Italian commander defends India shootings soldiers

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The commander of the Italian navy's landing forces defended two of his soldiers accused of shooting dead two Indian fishermen, saying the chance of them making a mistake were 'very remote'.

"They are elite soldiers, the best we have," counter admiral Pasquale Guerra said in an interview with Italian daily Il Giornale on Wednesday.

"They are experts because they have taken part in all our main foreign missions... The chance of them making a mistake is very, very remote," he said.

The soldiers, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, members of the San Marco regiment, were deployed on board an Italian oil tanker to guard against piracy and the Italian defence ministry has said the soldiers believed the pair were pirates.

The tanker was sailing from Singapore to Egypt when the incident took place on Wednesday off the coast of Kerala.

India, Italy adamant

The two countries, meanwhile, meanwhile, stuck to their stand as they tried to defuse the escalating diplomatic row over the killings.

The Kerala government said it will press for prosecution of the two Italian naval marines.

Mounting a diplomatic offensive, Italy's Deputy Foreign Minister Steffan de Mistura rushed to Delhi on Wednesday and met his Indian counterpart Preneet Kaur but the two sides apparently made no headway in resolving the row.

India made it clear that the issue would be handled according to the law of the land and said the "very fair and free judiciary" will take the right decision.

"As far as the law point is concerned, they have their interpretations and we have our interpretations...So as far as we are concerned in India, we certainly will go by our law," Kaur told reporters.

'Fishing boat behaved aggressively'

The two men were escorted off the ship and arrested on Sunday and remanded in custody for two weeks as a murder investigation continues.

Guerra said Latorre and Girone would have been very familiar with procedure when their ship is approached by a fast-moving small boat.

"These types of situations have been played out again and again during training for the past 20 years. Nothing is left to chance," he said.

"All the procedures are repeated. From the radio call to the flashing of the Panerai reflectors. In an extreme scenario, first you show your weapon, then fire it into the air, then fire in the water," he said.

Italy's defence ministry has said the Indian fishing boat behaved aggressively and was repeatedly warned before shots were fired. It said the officers fired warning shots and the boat left 'with no obvious damage'.

Ships are increasingly employing armed guards for protection off the coast of Somalia and across the Indian Ocean as vessels of all sizes have been seized by pirates who often secure huge ransoms for the crews' safe release.