Attack on Indian students in Australia was causing a great deal of concern but India did not want to view the situation as a problem between the two countries.
Attack on Indian students in Australia was causing a great deal of concern but India did not want to view the situation as a problem between the two countries, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said here on Sunday.
Attack on Indian students "obviously is a great deal of concern to us" and New Delhi has appealed to Australia to take adequate steps to protect Indian students, he told reporters. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to his Australian counterpart on the matter. The Australian government had also sent a "brief" of the action taken to stop recurrence of such incidents, he said.
Australia was also very keen to resolve the matter as many Indian students were going for higher studies there as the education sector in that country was a 1.5 billion dollar
business. In their own interest, they have to stop these kind of incidents, he said.
"The incidents in Australia should not be dramatised..no doubt it has to be stopped. The attacks have racial colour, but criminal elements were also involved in it," he said. India did not want to escalate the incident as a problem between the two countries, he said, adding encouragement should be given to Australia's efforts in resolving the issue.
In this context, Tharoor said the UPA government has taken a decision to revolutionise higher education sector in the country. "Attack on Indian students in Australia was a reminder to us on the need for opening new avenues for education in the country," he said.
On India's foreign policy, Tharoor said it would be a continuation of the previous government's plans. India likes to have a close relation with all countries, he said. Referring to the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes, he said the event caused great concern to India. "India has asked Pakistan to take suitable action against those responsible for it."
On India-China ties, the MoS said relationship with the neighbouring country has improved. Trade, business and tourism between the two countries have grown in the last few years. "Still border issues are there between the two countries that
need to be addressed," he said.
"We prefer to see the friendship between the two countries grow," Tharoor, who got elected from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency in the recent general elections, said. On his electoral promise to make the state capital a hub of higher education in the country, he said he would take all steps to fulfill his promise.
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