BackItalian marines case may impact ties with India: EU
European panel chief says the marines issue also has a bearing on the global fight against piracy, to which the EU is strongly committed
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Brussels: The EU is following the Italian marines case in India “very closely" and any decision on the issue may impact bilateral ties.
President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Durao Barroso met Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta in Brussels on Wednesday where the issue of the two Italian marines being held in India also came up for discussion.
“Finally, a point that Prime Minister Letta has raised with me and on which we have been in close contact with the Italian authorities, is the issue of the Italian marines in India. The European Union continues to follow the situation very closely," Barroso said in remarks following the meeting.
“Any decision on the case may have an impact on overall European Union-India relations and will be assessed carefully," he was quoted as saying in release.
The two marines, who are now lodged at the Italian Embassy in New Delhi awaiting trial, were deployed on the Italian-flagged oil tanker MT Enrica Lexie when they shot dead two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast on 15 February 2012, sparking diplomatic tensions between India and Italy. The marines said they mistook the fishermen for pirates.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought sanction to prosecute the two marines — Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone — under the ‘Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf’ Act (SUA), a provision which has only death penalty as punishment.
India has, however, given an assurance to Italy that the two would not be awarded death penalty. Barroso said the 28-member bloc — India’s largest trading partner — is opposed to death penalty.
Trade between India and the EU was valued at €75.8 billion during 2012.
“Also, at this occasion I said clearly that the EU is opposed to the use of the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances," he said.
Barroso said the marines issue also has a bearing on the global fight against piracy, to which the EU is strongly committed.
“The EU encourages India to find, as a matter of urgency, a mutually satisfactory solution to the longstanding case of the Italian marines in accordance with international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," he said.
Rome wants the marines to be tried in Italy, claiming the incident took place in international waters.
However, New Delhi said it has the right to try the Italian personnel as the victims were Indians on board an Indian fishing boat.
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