Bangalore: External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Sunday said the law of the country would take its own
course in fishermen killing case in which the crew of an
Italian ship fired at and killed two Indians off Kollam coast
in Kerala.
"The law of the land will take its own course in the
incident where the crew of an Italian ship Enrica Lexie fired
at and killed two Indian fishermen (off Kollam coast in
Kerala)," he told reporters on the sidelines of Karnataka
Pradesh Congress Committee meeting here.
Krishna said the captain and two members of the Italian
ship must cooperate with Kerala law agencies to arrive at an
amicable solution.
"We have advised the Italians to cooperate with the
Kerala law agencies to find an amicable solution," he said.
Refuting claims of Italian embassy officials in Delhi
that the Indian vessel attacked the Italian ship in
international waters, Krishna said "the fishing vessel was
only carrying fishing nets and fish".
The fishermen Ajesh Binki (25) and Jalastein (45) were
killed on February 15 off Kollam coast near Kerala when armed
guards of the ship fired at their boat, suspecting it to be a
a vessel belonging to pirates.
Krishna said there were agitations in Kerala over
fishermen`s killings.
Krishna said he has been in talks with Italian Foreign
Affairs Minister Giulio Maria Terzi and Kerala Chief Minister
Oommen Chandy on the issue.
The minister said he was looking forward to Terzi`s visit
to India on February 28.
PTI
