Italy recalls its envoy to India as marines case lags

Italy has recalled its Ambassador to India, in an escalation of the diplomatic row over the prosecution of two marines charged with shooting dead fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.

Daniele Mancini was ordered to return home immediately for consultations after India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearings on the case by a week — a delay Rome said displays “India’s obvious incapacity to manage the situation.”

Basant Gupta, India’s ambassador to Rome, was also summoned to the Foreign Office, and formally conveyed Foreign Minister Emma Bonino’s concerns.

New Delhi declined official comment on the issue. But, a senior External Affairs Ministry official told The Hindu he was “mystified” by the Italian decision. Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said last week that the possible trial of the marines under the anti-piracy legislation was “unacceptable.”