Italian Marines Row: Present tense, future uncertain

The external affairs ministry has decided to delay sending Basant K Gupta as the next Indian ambassador to Italy in the wake of the review being conducted by the government into New Delhi's ties with Rome after the latter reneged on its promise to bring back two marines to India to face trial for the killing of two Kerala fishermen.

This decision is seen as logical since any move to expel the Italian ambassador from India, as New Delhi contemplated, could have invited reciprocal action from Rome. However, diplomatic observers are intrigued that India did not have an ambassador in Italy for the last two-and-a-half months during some of the most tumultuous period in ties between the two countries.

India's previous ambassador, Debabrata Saha, retired on December 31 and after nearly a month of feet-dragging, Gupta was named as his successor on January 29. However, Gupta did not take up the position for six weeks and was expected to join the mission in Rome by mid-March.

These 2-3 months have seen several important developments in the alleged kickbacks scandal in the IAF's VVIP helicopter deal with Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, culminating in the arrest of the company's CEO last month.

Besides, the case of the Italian marines was also on the boil, with the Supreme Court hearing their plea and allowing them to go home to vote in elections.

While the MEA refused to give an official response to queries about the prolonged vacancy in Rome, official sources said there was no unusual delay in the process. A transition period of a couple of months is seen as quite normal in the ministry and sources said that some appointees have taken up to six months to move in as ambassadors after their names were announced. Gupta, they said, was busy wrapping up his work in the Consular, Passports, Visa division, saying his goodbyes and preparing for his new assignment.

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