Following the killings of two Indian fishermen by Italian naval guards off the Kerala coast on February 15, the two countries have had several talks-including the visit of Staffan De Mistura, Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy to India last week. While the Indian government has maintained that the law of the land will apply, Italy has demanded that the two Marines, currently in Kerala police’s custody, be tried by an international court.
Scheduled much before the February 15 incident, Italy’s Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi will visit India on the 28-29th of February. This will be the first high-level visit from Italy after former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation in November 2011.