Under attack from the Opposition,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Parliament on Wednesday that if Italy does not send back its two marines to face trial in India for killing two fishermen,there will be consequences. Our government has already made it clear that these actions of the Government of Italy are not acceptable. This cannot,by any standards,be in the interests of any bilateral relationship that has to function on the basis of trust. If they do not keep their word,there will be consequences for our relations with Italy, said Singh. Government sources told The Indian Express that New Delhi will wait till March 22,which is the deadline for the two marines,Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone,to return,before initiating any retaliatory response. Meanwhile,Italian ambassador Daniele Mancini,who was summoned by Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai yesterday,said his country has not gone back on its assurance to the Supreme Court. No,we are not retracting (on the assurance). We are working with the Indian government. You cannot consider the affidavit separate from all the others.,from the suggestions,proposals and ideas that we have been passing to the Indian interlocutors. This is a part of the process, he said on the sidelines of an event,referring to Romes proposal to resolve the issue through diplomatic dialogue. Mancini said Italy wants to resolve the issue by consensual means. For us,the supremacy of the international law needs to be re-assessed. we put a number of proposals to the Indian authorities to solve this case by consensual means. This is what we still want to be doing, he said. When asked if Mancini would be asked to leave,Mathai said: I think we have made our position very clear..We are awaiting their response. As soon as the response is received,we will take a decision on what to do. Italian officials,requesting anonymity,said the apex court on January 18 had denied Italian jurisdiction on the case,and asked both countries to engage in a common effort based on Article 100 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Italy has stated its readiness to start negotiations on such basis. Since there has been no reaction from India in this regard,we have come to the conclusion that it is appropriate to solve the legal dispute according to the international law, Italian diplomats said here today. The note verbale sent by our embassy in New Delhi to the ministry on March 11 is intended to give the opportunity to settle the dispute through consensual means offered to the parties by the international law,with the aim of defining a legally sound solution to the case, they said. Italy did everything we could to find an acceptable solution to the case,within the framework of our strong and friendly relations with India,and Italy will continue to do so. Legal proceedings against the two marines are still under way before the court of Rome, they added.
