With India firm in its stand that the country’s laws would prevail in the Indian fishermen shooting incident, the Italians are now banking on the ballistics inspection report of the weapons used by their Marines to help bring out the truth.
Visiting Italian deputy foreign minister Steffan de Mistura, who met secretary (west) Madhusudan Ganapathi at South Block on Friday afternoon, told reporters later, “We want the truth.”
He said both the Indian and the Italian people want the truth to emerge and that it “will come out very much through the ballistic test”. The Italian minister also expressed concern for the families of the two fishermen who died.
The Italians also appeared to be striking a more conciliatory note amid indications that they have now expressed satisfaction with the way things are proceeding so far.
Prior to this, the Italians had been strident in declaring that it was their law that should prevail. Two Italian ballistics experts are expected to be present on board the merchant vessel Enrica Lexie when the weapons are inspected on Saturday with the Kerala high court having given its nod to their presence.
The two Italian Marines are currently in judicial custody for allegedly shooting two fishermen from Kerala dead on February 15 after they mistook them for pirates. They are currently facing murder charges being probed by the Kerala police.
Speaking about the proposed joint inspection of the weapons, Mr Mistura said, “It will help all of us to be able to discover whether there was good faith mistake done by the judges who decided or felt that the Italian military were wrong or that there was a good faith mistake by the Italian military.”
He said, “The fact that they are allowing Italian experts to be present during this crucial issue of ballistic test is a sign of transparency and to make sure that we all feel comfortable with the proceedings and that will help all of us.”