Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said after meeting Italian ambassador Daniele Mancini at South Block, “Italy is obliged to ensure that the marines return to India in the time frame given by the Supreme Court.”

The Italian envoy refused to speak to the media. The Supreme Court in February allowed Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, accused of killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala, to fly to Italy to vote in the Feb 24-25 national election.