Rome, Mar. 27 (ANI): Italy's Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi has resigned following Rome's decision last week to send two marines back to India to face trial for murder.
"I can no longer be part of this government. My reservations about sending the marines back to India were not listened to," Terzi said on Tuesday during his testimony before the lower house of the Italian Parliament.
It maybe recalled that on March 22, Mario Monti's caretaker government had reversed its earlier decision not to send the marines back to India to face trial for the murder of two Indian fishermen during anti-piracy duty in February 2012.
The marines-Massimiliano Latore and Salvatore Girone-returned to New Delhi on March 22 after the Italian Government received an assurance from the Indian Government that they will not face the death penalty nor will they be arrested, bringing to an end a raging 11-day diplomatic row between the two countries.
Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Steffan de Mistura accompanied the two marines in a military plane.
That dramatic u-turn by the Italian Government enabled the marines to meet the deadline set by India's Supreme Court when it gave them permission to go for a month in February to vote in the elections there.
Defending their initial decision not to send back the marines even at the cost of diplomatic breach of assurance, de Mistura had said in New Delhi that the death penalty was unacceptable and became an issue for the Italian Government when the Supreme Court talked about setting up a special court to try the two marines. (ANI + inputs)
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