India today asserted that the UN tribunal has rejected the two provisional measures sought by Italy in the marines case including return of one of the marines despite the European country's strong appeal for it.
The Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry also said India will abide by the tribunal's decisions, including the present one on provisional measures.
"We have just received the order from the International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas in the Enrica Lexie incident in which Italy had approached the Tribunal for two provisional measures...
"While we are studying the judgement in detail, it is clear that the Tribunal did not consider the two provisional measures sought by Italy to be appropriate as that would have pre-judged the merits of the case and would not have equally preserved the rights of both parties until the constitution of the Annex VII Tribunal under UNCLOS, which will decide the issue of jurisdiction," the External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson said.
The Tribunal has instead prescribed a provisional measure in which both Italy and India should suspend all court proceedings and shall refrain from initiating new ones which might aggravate or extend the dispute submitted to Annex VII Tribunal or prejudice its decision on jurisdiction, he said.
"As a State Party to UNCLOS and as a responsible member of the international community that has consistently stood by its international obligations, India will continue to abide by the Tribunal's decisions, including the present one on Provisional Measures," the spokesperson said.
The two marines, who were on board ship 'Enrica Lexie', are accused of killing two Indian fishermen on February 15, 2012 off the Kerala coast.
