Australia says it will ensure safety of Indian nationals

Australia assured India that it would take ‘active’ steps to address the safety concerns of its nationals.

Australia on Monday assured India that it would take “active” steps to address the safety concerns of its nationals in the country, who have been targets of several racial attacks in recent months.

Visiting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee took up the matter during a meeting with his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith in Canberra.

Smith assured that his government would continue to “actively” address the issue of safety and well-being of Indians in Australia.

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The government would also continue to follow up on any incidents involving Indian students quickly and effectively, the Australian Minister said.

Indian students have been the targets in a string of attacks in Australia.

An Indian student-cabbie was brutally beaten up by two men in Adelaide in the third week of May. Balraj Singh sustained severe injuries on his face and his nose was broken in the attack by the men who had also stolen his taxi.

In late April, a 23-year-old Indian student taxi driver, Jalvinder Singh, was brutally stabbed and left bleeding on the roadside in Melbourne.

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A 22-year-old Indian post-graduate student was attacked, anaesthetised and robbed by unidentified persons in Melbourne earlier this month.

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