Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi resigned over Marine Case

Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi resigned on 26 March 2013 in the wake of a dispute with India over the 2012 killing of two Indian fishermen by two marines while there are on anti-piracy duty.

Italy has agreed to send two Italian marines accused of the crime to India to face trial, after initially refusing to return them. The marines, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, are facing trial in India over the shooting dead of two fishermen off the southern state of Kerala in February 2012 when they were deputed to protect an Italian commercial tanker from pirates.

The dispute began after Italy allowed the two suspects to return to Italy in February 2013 to vote in national elections.

Rome's initial refusal to send them back angered Indian government officials and Supreme Court justices, who noted that the Italian ambassador had given assurances to the court that the marines would come back to India after the elections.

On 11 March 2013 the outgoing technocrat government of Mario Monti in Italy said it would not send the marines back because Indian courts did not have jurisdiction over the incident, which as per the Rome occurred in international waters.