Heart surgery for India-held marine Latorre

(ANSA) - Milan, January 2 - Massimiliano Latorre, one of two Italian marines being held in India in connection with the 2012 shooting deaths of two fishermen, successfully underwent minor heart surgery Monday as Italy's wrangle with New Delhi continued.
    He was successfully operated on to plug a small hole in his heart, a condition that is quite common and easily fixed with non-invasive heart surgery, doctors at Milan's Policlinico di San Donato hospital said. Latorre, who was hospitalized Friday, has been in Italy for medical treatment after suffering a minor transient ischemic attack (TIA) in India last summer.
    A neurologist who treated Latorre after his stroke in New Delhi told ANSA that he had recommended cardiac tests at the time.
    "In my patient discharge report, I recommended cardiac testing to verify the possible causes of the cerebral stroke," said Dr. Rajeev Ranjan, of New Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram hospital.
    In a separate development, Italian Ambassador to India Daniele Mancini has returned to the Indian capital at the end of two weeks of consultations in Rome over the stand-off over the fate of Latorre and his colleague, Salvatore Girone.
    India has accused them of killing fishermen Valentine and Ajesh Binki after allegedly mistaking them for pirates and opening fire on their fishing trawler while guarding the privately owned Italian-flagged oil tanker MT Enrica Lexie off the coast of Kerala on February 15, 2012.
    Rome has protested the many delays in the case, which has caused major diplomatic friction between the two countries. It successfully fought to ensure New Delhi took the death penalty off the table and dropped the application of a severe anti-terrorism law, which it said would have equated Italy with a terrorist state.
    Rome has argued the case is not in India's jurisdiction as the incident took place outside the country's territorial waters. It also says the marines should be exempt from prosecution in India, because they are servicemen who were working on an anti-piracy mission, and allowed to return home.
    However, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi said last week that India has made statements regarding the case which may indicate a new opening for resolution.
    "India, a friend and ally of Italy, has in recent hours opened a direct channel of discussion, with statements that we've appreciated," Renzi told a year-end news conference at Palazzo Chigi, the prime minister's Rome office.