NEW DELHI, May 19 (Reuters) – Italy’s recall of its envoy
from New Delhi is aimed at signalling its “strong displeasure”
with the Indian government’s handling of a case involving two
Italian sailors charged with murder, a top Italian official said
on Saturday.
The ambassador’s recall on Friday escalated an increasingly
tense diplomatic spat between Italy and India. The two marines,
members of a military security team protecting a merchant
vessel, were formally charged hours earlier in connection with
the shooting of two Indian fishermen in February.
The sailors, who have been held in the southern Indian state
of Kerala, are due to appear in court on Saturday for a bail
hearing.
Italy’s deputy foreign minister, Staffan de Mistura, on his
third mission to India to push for the sailors to be released
into Italian custody, said the decision to recall the ambassador
followed a flurry of failed diplomatic efforts.
It came after three telephone calls by Italian Prime
Minister Mario Monti to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, a
visit by Italy’s defence minister and his own missions to India,
he told Reuters from Kerala.
It also followed the “absurd accusation of premeditated
murder”, De Mistura said.
“It is a signal of profound displeasure,” he said.
Italy argues that jurisdiction over the marines should lie
with Rome because the incident occurred in international waters,
but the Indian government maintains that it is a matter for the
courts and that it does not have the authority to intervene.
Asked whether the case had damaged Italian-Indian ties, De
Mistura said: “We are sending a strong signal to avoid damaging
our relationship.”
India’s foreign ministry played down the recall, saying it
did not indicate relations had soured.
The two sailors were stationed on a merchant ship off the
southern Indian coast tasked with protecting it from pirate
attacks. They fired warning shots at a fishing boat on Feb. 15,
believing it to be a pirate vessel, they said.
The marines were charged with murder shortly after the
incident in February. Under Indian law, initial charges are
formalised by police after investigation and before a trial can
begin. A hearing to select a date for the trial is scheduled for
May 25, Kerala’s deputy public prosecutor said on Friday.
One of the murder charges carries a maximum penalty of life
imprisonment, but another can be punished by death, though the
central government would have to approve that. India has not
used the death penalty for several years.
(Reporting By Ross Colvin, additional reporting by Frank Jack
Daniel and Matthias Williams in New Delhi and James Mackenzie
and Gavin Jones in Rome; Editing by Ron Popeski)
