ROME: Italy said on Thursday that it would return to India two marines charged with the murder of two Indian fishermen in Kerala last year, reversing an earlier decision that had escalated diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
The Italian government on Thursday claimed that Indian authorities gave it “ample assurances” that the marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, would receive their due fundamental rights while being trialed in India.
Italy said the men would return to India by Friday, the timeframe originally agreed to when they were given permission to travel to Italy to vote in national elections last month.
“The government decided, also in the interests of the marines, to maintain the commitment taken when they were granted leave to take part in the elections to return to India by March 22,” it said.
“The marines agreed to this decision,” it added.
DND
