India has taken up the matter of vandalisation of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Italy with the authorities concerned ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the country for the G7 meeting. A bust of Gandhi was vandalised allegedly by Khalistani extremists on Wednesday hours after its inauguration.
As per reports, the miscreants also made a graffiti on the base of the statue writing a reference to Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Indian Ambassador to Italy, Vani Rao said that the incident took place in Brindisi, a town in southern Italy, and the local authorities took action to clean up the bust. She also said that the Indian authorities have demanded to find the accused and take action against those responsible as per the local law.
"So the incident was in a town called Brindisi, which is in southern Italy. But after that, you know, the Italian local authorities have taken action to clean up the bust," said Indian ambassador to Italy.
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"And we have also taken up our concerns with them immediately. We have requested them they locate those who are responsible and take action against them under the local law." she added.
The Ministry of External Affairs also addressed the issue and said that the matter has been taken up with Italian authorities.
"...We have seen the reports of that and we have taken it up with the Italian authorities," said Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra during a press briefing.
"We understand that a suitable rectification has already taken place...," he added.
The incident comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Italy on the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to attend the G7 meeting. Modi will leave for Italy on Thursday for his first foreign trip after assuming the office for a third term.