On Friday evening, the Italian foreign office issued a one-line statement “recalling” the ambassador to India. “In light of the developments in the situation in Kerala and the charges against the two Italian servicemen, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, the Italian Ambassador to New Delhi, Giacomo Sanfelice, has been recalled to Rome for consultations with the Government,” the statement said [read it here].

Read the PTI story here

At first, I imagined that the use of the word “recall” was a case of mediocre English. Particularly after news channels, for want of space in their news graphics, edited out the subordinate phrase: “for consultations with the Government”. But my unpleasant discovery is that Sanfelice has indeed been “recalled”, and the use of this term is deliberate. There is no time-frame at present about how long his consultations will last and when he will return to New Delhi.

As an Indian, my reaction is obviously one of indignation against Rome. How can a two-bit former imperial power arm-twist us? That after two of their people had the gall to shoot down two poor Indian fishermen! And how dare they’ve paid the victims family Rs 1 crore each in blood money?

I then look at hard facts pertaining to my government, whose job, I’m told, is to protect the country and our elan in the comity of nations:

1) The aforementioned tragedy on February 15 occurred 20.5 nautical miles from the coast of India. Shorn of complicated legalese, elementary geography and political science taught us in school that the territorial limits of our country extends to 12 nautical miles from the coastline. No less than the additional solicitor general of India, Harin Raval, said this in the open court. This angered the judges no end and Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy demanded that Raval be withdrawn. This has indeed been, but not before Raval has stood his ground and then added that what he said was his personal opinion. Since when has an ASG been entitled to express a personal opinion in the open court? Is it too much to expect that Raval’s client, ie, the Union of India, and he should appeared aligned on this fundamental point? Or, if the man shot his mouth off overruling clear instructions to the contrary, why hasn't he been sacked? My government has failed me on both counts.

So, even if my Indian blood boils at having two countrymen losing their lives, I am forced to see Raval’s point reading provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1960, read with the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic Zone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976, relating to our jurisdiction with regard to where two foreigners completed their alleged offence.

Grudging score: Italy-1. India-0.

2) This forces me to ask if 20.5 miles constitutes international waters, are we mere idiots expected to let the Italians get away? Well, it’s a moot point that even though Obama can hole out Osama in a Pakistani safe house and then bury him into the sea, punishment to foreign nationals for what they have allegedly done outside India can hardly be decided in a local Indian court. Why, you may angrily ask? Well, for the simple reason that India, to the eternal credit of prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, remains one of the pillars of international law. Nehru and Indira Gandhi led the comity of nations from the front. Thus India signed the United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS-III) on the first day it was ratified after 11 years of negotiation in Montego Bay, Jamaica on December 10, 1982. A basic search will tell you India’s role since the time of UNCLOS-I in Geneva in 1958. [see basic details in National Institute of Oceanography paper: here)

Thus, provision 97 read with Article 58 seem to suggest that ASG Raval wasn’t exactly out of his mind when he told the court that in effect Italy, not us, have the sole and exclusive jurisdiction on the matter. The relevant state, in this case Italy, is duty bound to investigate and prosecute the accused, a fact Rome claims has already started in the Ordinary and Military Prosecution Office. Yet, external affairs minister SM Krishna, and prime minister Manmohan Singh, who since Nehru’s time has been the direct conscience keeper of foreign affairs, have allowed Chandy and the other political heavyweight from the state, defence minister AK Antony, to call the shots.

Result? No space to save face. Score: Italy-2. India-0.

3) If this leaves you wondering how stupid Nehru and Indira Gandhi would have been if they tied their hands thus, think again. I am struck by the retaliation that Karan Thapar, one of our more intelligent though interruptive anchorpersons received on his show, while grilling the Italian deputy foreign minister Steffan de Mistura on Friday night. After pointing out to Thapar the fact that the accused two-some were active, functional military men, who were deployed on the Italian ship by the defence ministry of that country, de Mistura said, and I paraphrase, "Karan, I hear your father was a distinguished military general (Gen PN Thapar was once chief of army staff). Do you want military men from India to be detained and tried in international territory by us in Italy?" To his credit, Thapar did not fall for the bait. That would have underscored the humiliating war an ill-equipped army given to Gen Thapar had to fight against China in 1962. But yes, the point was made. Does India really want to be seen doing an illegal trial of serving military men? Well, that’s what our rudderless leaders seem to be leading us into. As an emerging world power our boys are fighting in different war zones too. Are we opening them to similar trials because two Kerala politicians can’t think beyond local politics -- survival of the state government with the ultra-thin majority in the assembly?

Emotionally draining, but score all the same: Italy-3. India-0

4) Coming to the aggressive Italians, many of us wonder why did their marines shoot unarmed Indians, albeit in international waters? Did they seriously expect Somalian pirates so close to the Indian coast? Did their so-called decorated serving marines lose their nerve or were plain arrogant? The facts will emerge in court proceedings, wherever they finally are! But the fact that the Italian government stepped in a flash and that ex-gratia compensation of Rs 1 crore each was wired through the Italian embassy in New Delhi doesn’t exactly sound like “blood money”. With our confused government, I consider the victim families luck to have got this instant relief, without prejudice to their rights, without having to wait. Similarly, it seems an act of good faith if not plain stupidity for the Italian crew to have responded to calls by the maritime centre to come to Indian mainland. This point is disputed and the Indian affidavit suggests that the Italian ship had to be shepherded. While the facts get settled, it is unclear whether theirs was an act of murder (under section 302). Instead, was it unintentional murder?

I’ll let you do the scoring. My sense is both sides have a score here.

So, 0-3 or 1-4, the trouble in this fast-unravelling diplomatic disaster is that the PM does not want to take a stand that "yes, indeed, I government have clear authority on the subject and Kerala police and politicos can back off and let me do my job and conform to the painful discipline of international obligations."

I don’t even mind if PM told the Italians off clearly and even ordered his external affairs minister to abrogate the Indo-Italian defence pact, since it necessitates a certain treatment towards serving armed-forces personnel.

Why is none of this happening? We all know that our PM is happiest as a political ostrich, programmed to take political clearance from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

If it were another country, Sonia’s wise counsel might have been come. In the instant case, the country involved is Italy. Alas, Sonia will keep away. Poor Manmohan! While Rome wakes up the whole world and burns in rage, he’ll fiddle.

(Twitter handle: @therohitbansal)