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Manmohan raises attacks with Rudd

— PHOTO: PTI

Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy comes out of the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: There was heightened diplomatic activity in New Delhi and Canberra following fresh attacks on Indian students in Australia with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh taking up the issue with his Australian counterpart, Kevin Rudd on Friday.

Dr. Singh brought it up when Mr. Rudd called the Prime Minister to congratulate him on being sworn in to a second term in office.

Mr. Rudd told Dr. Singh that the overwhelming majority of Indian students in Australia were safe and that he took the issue of security of all foreign students in his country “very seriously,” Dr. Singh’s office said.

The Australian Prime Minister said that he was appalled by the attacks and the authorities would work to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Earlier, talks between the Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy and N. Ravi, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs centred around the attacks.

In Australia, Indian diplomats focused on the state of Victoria, where most of the attacks have taken place. High Commissioner Sujatha Singh and Consul General Anita Nayar met Victoria Premier John Brumby to discuss measures to ensure that “Victoria remains the first-choice destination of Indian students,” said an Australian High Commission news release.

Australia has emerged as a magnet for students from East and South Asia. With about four lakh students locating to Australia every year, academics has become a major revenue earner for its people. Nearly 50,000 Indian students enrolled in Victoria (major city Melbourne) alone.

PTI reports:

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, talking to journalists in Bangalore on Friday, asked the student community not to fear as the Australian government had assured India of stringent measures to protect their interests.

“Our High Commissioner in Australia is in constant touch with that government and also with the student community,” he said and expressed the hope that the “issue could be resolved.”

Meanwhile, Shravan Kumar, a 25-year-old student from Andhra Pradesh attacked with a screwdriver over the weekend, is in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital in Melbourne and doctors are “not very optimistic” about the chances of his recovery, Indian Consul General Anita Nair said.

“The doctors at this point of time are not very optimistic about his chances but they are waiting for the situation to be clearer and they say they will be able to give us a better forecast in a day or two,” she said, adding “we are monitoring the situation regularly with the hospital.”

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