M(onti) dials M(anmohan) over M(arines) issue

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti telephoned his Indian counterpart on the evening of 9 April and the issue of Italian marines dominated the discussion, according to official sources. The  sources, however, did not say what Monti said to Singh and why he made the telephone call in the first place. However, diplomatic sources have given a much different picture to Firstpost. Here it is. [caption id=“attachment_692829” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti.[/caption] Monti’s call was a part of pressure tactics of the Italian government which was jolted by foreign minister Giulio Terzi ‘angrily’ resigning a fortnight ago over his government’s decision to return the two marines to India for standing trial over the killing of two fishermen off Kerala coast in 2012. Sources said Monti’s telephone call to the Indian prime minister was aimed at his own domestic constituency in an attempt to show that the Italian government was not sitting idle and was relentlessly taking up the issue with India knowing full well how the Indian system works. It is understood that Monti told Singh that the Italian marines be sent back home as soon as possible and if the Indian judicial system were to convict them the marines should be allowed to serve their sentence in Italian jails. Sources said Monti reminded Singh of India’s assurances in this regard. Monti is also understood to have reiterated Italy’s stated position: that the two countries differed drastically over the fundamental issue of jurisdiction. Italy has vehemently stated that the shooting incident took place in the high seas which was beyond the pale of Indian court’s jurisdiction. If at all the marines have to be tried the fit forum for it would be International Court of Justice, the Italians have been arguing. The Indian government has flatly rejected Italy’s arguments and stuck to its position that the incident took place off Kerala coast and thus the case was within the Indian jurisdiction. Significantly, the two Italian marines who were returned to India in a military plane were accompanied by Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Steffan de Mistura. The return of the two marines had ended an 11-day diplomatic standoff between India and Italy. Mistura had met External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and had said in New Delhi then that Italy had decided not to send back the marines at the cost of diplomatic breach of assurance as Italy was concerned that they may get death penalty. Khurshid had said that the UPA government had clarified to Rome that in this case death penalty could not be invoked as it did not fall in the ‘rarest of the rare’ category. Official sources, while briefing on Monti’s telephone call to Singh, said the issue of Italian marines was indeed discussed between the two prime ministers. They said Singh recalled the recent conversation between Khurshid and Mistura and mentioned that the process of setting up a special court is at a fairly advanced stage and the Attorney General would provide further details in this regard during the hearing in the Supreme Court on 16 April, 2013. Singh also said that in view of pending investigations, it would be premature to take a view on specific aspects. However, he recalled the clarifications provided by the Ministry of External Affairs to Italy in its earlier communication prior to the return of the marines. Monti thanked Singh for the update and also used this opportunity to convey his condolences to Singh on the sad incident in South Sudan which led to the death of five Indian Peacekeepers and injuries to five others. Sources said more such pressure tactics from the Italians were not ruled out in the near future. The writer is a Firstpost columnist and a strategic affairs analyst who can be reached at bhootnath004@yahoo.com.