AUSTRALIA ASSURES INDIA

August 7th, 2009 by Ravi Matah | Posted in News   Comments Off on AUSTRALIA ASSURES INDIA
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On Thursday Australia assured India that “firm action” will be taken against those responsible for attacks on Indian students and  said that inputs from the Indian community will be incorporated in a safety plan for international students.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, the first cabinet level Indian minister to visit Australia since the recent spate of attacks on Indian students, met New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees on Thursday and discussed the attacks and difficulties faced by Indian students.

Rees assured India that “firm action” will be taken against those responsible for the recent wave of attacks on Indian students that had
created outrage in India.

Rees also assured Krishna that inputs from the Indian community will be included in the action plan for international students. He informed the minister that a meeting of the task force on the issue will be held Friday.

On Friday, 7th.August,2009, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd  assured external affairs minister S M Krishna that all steps would be taken to ensure safety and security of Indian students as they discussed the issues in the backdrop of recent attacks.

After the 20-minutes-long close door meeting with  Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Krishna expressed his satisfaction at the steps taken by the Australian government to stop attacks on Indian students.

“I am satisfied with the assurances give to me by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd,” Krishna said after emerging from the meeting.

“Prime Minister Rudd is fully aware of the sensitivity of the issues concerning students. He informed about the remedial measures already taken by the government. I am satisfied that Australian government at Federal and state levels are fully geared to meet the situation,” he said.

Besides meeting representatives of the department of education and the law enforcement authorities, Krishna interacted with Indian students and the Indian community.

The discussions focused on monitoring the role of travel agents and mechanisms to monitor private colleges in Australia, official sources said in Delhi.

Indians are “by and large most welcome in Australia”, Krishna observed, according to the ABC Online.

Besides the attacks, an education and migration scam has been exposed and a college in Sydney, where many students are Indian, has been shut down, thus putting their future in jeopardy.

ABC TV had earlier, in its’ programme ‘Four Corners’ exposed the nexus between unscrupulous immigration agents and some Universities. It was alleged that they were providing false documents also. Following this exposure the offices of Sanjay Deshwal, a prominent immigration agent, were raided by the Australian authorities.

Another agent, Sam Tejani, had shut shop as the go-between man in the education and immigration racket.

Krishna, who is on a five-day visit to Australia, said he did not believe that Australia was a racist nation, and added that he was satisfied with the assurances given by the Australian leaders, sources revealed.

Besides Sydney, he will also go to Melbourne to hear first-hand about the problems faced by Indian students and will discuss their safety and security with the State leaders there.

 Ravi Matah

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