Melbourne: Foreign Minister Stephen Smith`s
unexpected meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi today was termed as a "positive sign" by the government in Australia`s efforts to deal with the issue of attacks on Indians.
Smith, who is the latest Australian dignitary to visit
New Delhi to address concerns in India, met Singh today and
apprised him of the steps being taken by his government to
contain assaults on Indians.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister told Smith that
the Indian government appreciated Australia`s efforts to
address the problem, AAP reported.
Smith`s meeting with Singh, which was only agreed to
yesterday, was a "positive sign", government sources were
quoted as saying.
On a three-day visit, Smith said in New Delhi that he was
pleased that "there is much greater understanding" now about
the steps being taken by the Australian Government to minimise
attacks on Indian students studying in his country.
Singh said he "appreciated the Australian government`s
efforts to address this issue," a statement by the Australian
government said, adding: "Prime Minister Singh underlined the
goodwill between the two countries".
"The raw edge has come off the students issue but we
can`t in any way be complacent," Smith was quoted as saying.
Smith, who held meetings with Union Ministers S M
Krishna, Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram in the past two days,
said he had a "very productive round of meetings with the
Indian leaders".
"We particularly find contemptible any attack which has
racial or racist overtones associated with it. We have no
tolerance for such attacks," he said.
During his three-day visit to India, Smith acknowledged
that some attacks on Indians in Australia had racial overtones
but stressed that Australia has zero tolerance for this.
"I think my visit here and my frank acknowledgement of
the difficulties has helped," he said and promised to renew
efforts to make sure the risks of attacks on Indian students
were absolutely minimised.
Following the spate of attacks on Indians, particularly
students, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, his deputy and
Education Minister Julia Gillard and Victorian Premier John
Brumby have visited India to allay concerns.
-PTI
