ROME– Italian police have increased security at the Indian Embassy following threats linked to the marines controversy, the Indian Government has confirmed.

 The anonymous letter with an enclosed bullet, delivered recently to the Embassy in Rome, is not the first instance of threats related to the case of the Italian marines being directed at the Indian diplomats in Rome.

 According to the Indian Times Now TV, which first revealed the information, “hundreds of emails with threats” have reached the Embassy in the last days, a symptom of what the Indian source refers to as an “escalation in the dispute between Italy and India”, in which the former “resorts to a tactic of intimidation” to achieve its goal, the liberation of the soldiers, adds the Indian source. 

 A spokesman for the Indian Foreign Ministry in New Delhi, Syed Akbaruddin, has said that a request has been directed to Italian authorities to ensure protection of the personnel, reaffirming that “diplomatic channels between the two countries are open at the highest level.”

 jp-om