As a three-car cavalcade, headed by the Ambassador’s limousine, carrying the Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen swept into the Italian Embassy on Friday evening, an unprecedented diplomatic chapter in India-Italy ties seems to have drawn to a close.
Accompanied by Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Steffan de Mistura, the marines, Massimiliano Latore and Salvatore Girone, landed in Delhi on a military plane hours before the end of the March 22 deadline for their return and dodged a full complement of media personnel camped outside the international airport since the morning.
Speaking to The Hindu, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said the Italian government on Thursday morning had sent a message via the Indian charge d’affaires in Rome, Ravi Shankar, seeking assurances that the marines would not be arrested upon their return or run the risk of being given the death penalty in the event of their conviction by an Indian court. Mr. Khurshid and his colleagues, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai and Secretary (West) Sudhir Vyas, knew immediately that an end to the crisis was at hand. “We quickly put our heads together and a formal assurance was relayed yesterday [Thursday] at the level of Secretary (West),” Mr. Khurshid said, adding: “I ensured we had the Attorney-General on board on this.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed Italy’s decision to send back the marines saying that he was happy the integrity and dignity of the Indian judicial process had been upheld. Earlier, after Italy had declared that it would not be sending back the marines, Dr. Singh had termed this volte-face as “unacceptable” and warned that there would be “consequences.”
“The Italians watched our determination. They saw our statements. These were not hostile but firm messages. They saw the attitude of the Supreme Court. And I think the fact that the European Union statement [which called for the Italian ambassador’s diplomatic immunity to be respected] also said the two countries should sort the issue out helped Italy to reach its decision.”
But India also had an obligation, Mr. Khurshid said. “What we owe to Italy is that the special court [which the Supreme Court ordered to hear the case] must be notified and should start functioning quickly.”
Asked if Italy had raised that as a condition for returning the marines, Mr. Khurshid said that he himself had brought up the matter with Steffan di Mistura. “I told him that a speedy trial is not your concern alone but ours too.”
Mr. Khurshid told The Hindu that many people outside and even within the government wanted India to break off all relations and contact with the Italians but the government had decided to stay in touch and find a diplomatic way out. “We withheld our ambassador [designate] but there was constant communication. It takes minutes to break a relationship,” he said. “Building it takes time.”
A senior Indian MEA official speaking on condition of anonymity said it was hard to understand why the Ministry of Home Affairs had not acted to set up the special court despite the passage of more than six weeks. He also said the reason the Italians wanted a specific assurance on the death penalty was because of the popular perception in Europe that India had gone back on the guarantees it gave a Portuguese court at the time of his extradition from Lisbon in 2005 that he would not be liable for capital punishment.
Describing the Indian government’s approach to the crisis over the return of the two marines as an “exercise in degrees of patience,” the official said India was “dealing with a very charged atmosphere and had to proceed with a lot of caution; this was not a purely diplomatic problem since the Supreme Court was involved.”
On both sides the room for manoeuvre was not very great, he said. “I think in Italy they realised that violating the undertaking given to the Supreme Court could not be brushed aside lightly. Since they had got their ambassador to implead himself, there was some amount of discomfort.” The MEA played a role in sensitising the EU to India’s stand, the official said, adding that High Representative Catherine Ashton’s recent statement on diplomatic immunity — which many in India saw as a warning to New Delhi — also sent a signal to Italy that its European partners wanted a diplomatic way out of the crisis.
At a press conference in Delhi on Friday night, Steffan di Mistura underlined the Indian assurance on the death penalty and stressed the need for a quick and “effective” disposal of the case by the special court. He also reiterated the Italian position that under international law, the matter should be tried in Italy, adding that during their month-long sojourn in Italy, the two marines were questioned by Italian judges about the shooting incident.
Keywords: Italian marines issue, India-Italy diplomatic row, Indian fishermen killing, Salman Khurshid, Manmohan Singh
Although I'm not a great fan of MMS & Co., this is a splendid victory
they've gifted us. To my mind, it's the first time in recent history
that we've locked horns with a western power, and they've blinked !!
Kudos to the judicial system & Foreign Ministry !!
Its Good to see that Italian Govt has sent the mariners. I think the
step which India took this time to bring back the Mariners has to be
appreciated and India should follow more strict rules to punish all the
criminals of Law. Hope the kerala fisherman get justice now .
This is the victory of democracy and Indian judiciary's morale gets a
boost from this episode..Though the ruling party and the opposition
parties are claiming victory of their stance , ultimately it is the
victory of the judiciary and all others are just part and parcel of the
scenario, that's all!!
how about governments and politicians flouting court orders
Truly the Judicial system wins the day as italian marines return. MEA
and PMO acted on the direction provided by the Supreme Court rather than
their own. These days most of the critical solutions are given by
Judiciary. As we know the executive part of the government is very weak
and struggles with lot of problems and so they did not realise until the
Supreme Court orders/interferes. Now Mr.Khursid says Diplomacy wins.
This would be the joke of the decade.
Bravo, India.
This story is not only encouraging but also misleading!
My family owns a plot of land outside Bangalore. Truth is despite having clear title, we cannot even get anywhere close to it. A land developer has "bought" the land and hired goons to make sure that NO ONE constructs anything there. The police absolutely refuse to do anything, other than asking us to "settle things" with the developer.
This story is not at all unique as millions of people have very similar instances to narrate. It is easier to do things internationally to save our face. But what about ordinary people who have no access to justice? I mean, will the government really do anything about it?
Now that the Marines have been brought back to India by Italy,the Supreme Court's ruffled feathers have been smoothed.The families of the deceased fishermen have been compensated.All that remains is what line the court trying the marines will take.The scenario that I envisage would be something like this.The trial as assured will be fast with the defendants being being the benefit of doubt
that they were in international waters.The marines will be without any blemish.The families of victims are happy with the compensation.Both governments will congratulate each other on their
Diplomacy and averting unpleasantness on either side.Everybody will heave a sigh of relief and go home happy.The End.
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed Italy’s decision to send back
the marines saying that he was happy the integrity and dignity of the
Indian judicial process had been upheld"- true, but moire than that The
Honurtable Supreme Court of India stood firm on issue demonstrating that
rule of law in this country is supreme and all obey, even foreign
diplomatic with his unquestionable immunity under international
conventions -once he subjects himself to the jurisdiction of the APEX
COURT of the land-INDIA!
Italy has acted wisely. They have shown sensitivity in this matter due to whatever reason. We need to stop baying for blood of these two marines.It was an unfortunate incidence in which 2 Indian fishermen were killed. We have to be pragmatic. I believe India must seek financial compensation for the affected families and let Italy's own courts decide the fate of these two marines. Message has been conveyed to International community.Our courts are overwhelmed and our jails are overfilled.We will be feeding them for next how many years. We can not get masterminds of well planned terror attacks in Nov 2008 terror attacks and 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai, why are we so cynical about these 2 marines who killed 2 fishermen by mistake? just because Italy is civilized enough to hand them over to us ? My countrymen, show toughness where it is actually needed and do not make enemies everywhere.
My take is that there was a lot of back room negotiations to get the marines back. I think the negotiations and conversations included the defence contract with Italy, holding the Italian ambassador accountable and perhaps some agreement on the terms of possible punishment.
The backtracking of the Italian government has everything to do with some armtwisting by India. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with it. Overall, the incident was handled with maturity. We need to give the government that.
Looks more like an elaborate scam rather than diplomacy. It was Italian
vote politics that won in Italy rather than Indian diplomacy. Indian UPA
diplomacy failed the day they let them go to Italy twice and then they
refused. And still buying weapons from Italian companies which are
reputed for their corruption.
As an Italian living abroad (UK), with a somewhat distanced view of the whole affair, It's heartening to see an Indian newspaper giving a calm and factual review of the state of affairs. My compliments to your newspaper.
What a day for Indian diplomacy. Salute to all diplomats, who were part
of negotiations. They really saved the pride of the apex court.
will Mr.Khurshid clarify who decided whether this falls in the rarest of
rare category or not??
So Salman Kurshid has in fact requested the marines to be sent to India on vacation!
How can the minister act over the authority of the Supreme court and provide assurances of what penalties will be levied on them? Oh, the second act of the drama, "the two marines will not be liable for arrest if they return within the time frame laid down".
No arrest, just send your marines to watch the drama in the court and laugh at our judiciary. Everything has been per-arranged, don't worry.
In the US they use the phrase 'God Bless America', we Indians should start using, 'God Save India'!.
Wonder how much the impending Kerala election entered in the calculation of the Congress Party and the Government's interest to get the marines (and the assurance or views given to the Italian government) on Indian side? How much Indian contracts entered into Italian calculations.
In any case it would be laudable if the marines returned to India if there were truly no hanky-panky deals between the two countries in this case.
India can have a sigh of relief as the case has been brought to an end
to it's satisfaction without suffering any dent to it's international
prestige. But there should be no further delay in carrying out the
judicial process of this case.
Now the Government has been spared what would have been a big head-
ache. The Law will take its course. Some tough talk by the
Government as well as the Supreme Court has done the trick.
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