PM assures high-level dialogue with Australia on racist attacks

New Delhi, Jun 9:Expressing anguish over the continuing attacks against Indian students down under, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured the Lok Sabha that he would engage the authorities in Australia in a high-level dialogue with a view to taking stock of the situation and to providing adequate security for Indian students.
Winding up the 16-hour-long debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address to the Joint Sitting of Parliament, he said he had been appalled by the senseless violence and crime, some of it racially motivated against Indian students in Australia.
Saying that he did not wish to underplay the anxiety of the parents of Indian students, Dr Singh urged the media to be mindfulof the fact that there were more than 200,000 Australian citizens of Indian origin.
''We should be mindful of their interests and avoid willy-nilly creating a situation where these citizens of Australia of Indian origin become the targets of racist intolerance,'' he said.
Dr Singh said he had already spoken to his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd who assured him that any racist attacks on Indian students would be strongly dealt with.
Mr Rudd made a statement in parliament in which he condemned and deplored the attacks and said that they were unacceptable, he said.
Mr Rudd also emphasised that Australia was a multi-cultural nation which respected and embraced diversity.

(UNI)