Melbourne, March 04: With the issue of safety of Indian students high on the agenda of the meeting between the Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith and his Indian counterpart SM Krishna, the visiting minister admitted that some of the attacks on Indian students were racist in nature that caused considerable damage to its reputation and standing among Indian people.
Smith said, “The Australian Institute of Criminology was studying the attacks on Indian students in his country and would soon come up with an exhaustive report to help the government deal with the issue better.”
“We know that a number of these assaults are racist and have racial overtones. These are absolutely contemptible,” Smith, who is on a three-day visit to India, said.
According to him, “There are 70 investigations underway on these assaults. We have zero tolerance for racist attacks.” I acknowledge absolutely that this issue has caused considerable damage to Australia’s reputation among Indian people.”
Canberra had earlier denied any racist angle to repeated attacks on Indian students that threatened to vitiate bilateral ties. He said some of the attacks are racist in nature or having racial overtones. Adding, AIC will study the issue from all aspects and examine the response of the Australian government.
“Our police authority in Australia does not keep statistics on the basis of nationality. It has been difficult to do an exhaustive statistical analysis of the assaults. The institute will do the study to get a better understanding of the issue,” he said.
The minister had a series of meeting in recent months with his Indian counterpart S M Krishna over the issue.
“We have to work very hard to address that. We have to be open, transparent and upfront about that,” Smith said.
—-Agencies