Australia asks India not to fuel 'hysteria' over student's killing

Australia today asked India not to whip up "hysteria" over a young expatriate's murder here saying such incidents occur everywhere including in Mumbai, London and New York, and claimed it remained "safe" for foreign students, amid India's warning to its citizens to be cautious in this country.

There was no evidence to suggest that the attack on 21-year-old Nitin Garg, a student who was fatally stabbed in the abdomen on Sunday, was racially-motivated, acting foreign minister Simon Crean said, adding it was one of a spate of stabbings in Melbourne over the Christmas period.

"It so happens that one of the victims is Indian... Melbourne is not the only city in the world where this happens. It also happens in Delhi and in Mumbai," Crean was quoted as saying by The Age.

About comments by external affairs minister SM Krishna, who termed the killing of Garg as a "brutal attack", Crean said he hoped "wiser heads will prevail."

Krishna had also warned that such incidents could have a bearing on bilateral ties.

The report said Crean asked Indian leaders not to fuel hysteria over the issue, while conceding that there could be economic repercussions of the issue.

Deputy prime minister Julia Gillard, meanwhile, insisted that her country is safe for all international students and said "acts of violence" occur in big cities around the world.

Her comments came in the wake of India issuing a travel advisory for Australia.