New Delhi, Aug. 28: Italy today said it would summon the Indian envoy in Rome to register its protest against the attack on Christians in Orissa.

It also said it would ask France, the European Union head, to address the matter.

The tough talk — this is the first such reaction to the communal violence in Orissa from a foreign government — could prove politically sensitive for Delhi as the Opposition might link it with Sonia Gandhi’s Italian origin.

The Vatican had yesterday “deplored’ the killings.

The matter came under Italy’s glare when its council of ministers met today. “Minister of European policies Andrea Ronchi raised in the council the serious problem of (the) repeated violence that occurred recently in India against Christians,” said the Italian government’s English translation of the summary of the meeting.

“The ministry of foreign affairs will convene (the) ambassador of India to Rome to represent the government’s strong expectation of an effective preventive and repressive action by the Indian authorities in respect of such unacceptable acts of violence.”

According to the summary, foreign minister Franco Frattini “obtained the consent and encouragement” of the council to request France to put the matter on the agenda of the European council of foreign ministers’ meeting.

Sources in India’s foreign ministry described Italy’s response as rare as the violence didn’t involve its citizens and was an internal matter of another sovereign country.