New Delhi: Australian High Commissioner
Peter Varghese has admitted that his country`s image in India
has been hit following the recent attacks of Indians Down
Under but felt that relations between the two governments were
strong.
"I certainly accept that our image in India has taken a
beating. I don`t think that if you go through the intensity of
the negative media coverage in India and not take a damage,"
he told a news channel.
He said if the perception in India being conveyed was
that Australia was an unsafe country that would surely do the
damage. "It worries me," he said.
Varghese said the Australian government had taken a
series of steps including increase in police patrolling,
doubling the size of anti-robbery squads and changes in
legislation to deal with incidents of urban crime.
He insisted that the attacks were "urban opportunistic
urban crime" and not racist in nature.
PTI
