Apparently seeking to cool tempers over Indians being tagged in the United States, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday said the issue should be understood from the "larger perspective" that over 1.8 lakh Indians are studying there and the matter relates to "12 or 18 students".
At the same time, he said India will take up with the US the issue of Indian students being defrauded by the Tri-Valley University in California, asking how such a "dubious" institute was allowed to function.
On the issue of Indian students being tagged, Krishna told mediapersons in New Delhi, "Well, let us understand one thing. There are about 1.8 lakh Indian students in the United States of America. And we are now talking about these 12 or 18 students who have been subjected to this treatment. I would appeal to the people of the country and to the media in particular that we should look at it in the larger perspective of these one lakh and odd Indian students who are pursuing their studies in various universities."
He said India has taken up the issue of the students being tagged. "We have taken it up with the USA at the highest level. Our ambassador and the Consul-General in San Francisco are in touch with the Indian students," said the minister who had on Sunday termed the radio-tagging as "unacceptable".
Approximately 100 students had obtained visas from the US mission in India and a number of students in the US, as dependents of their spouses, had enrolled in the Tri Valley University after taking the required authorization.
But the University has now closed down. The US authorities have now put radio tags on them to track them for investigations. Terming the Tri-Valley university as "dubious", Krishna said, "We will be taking it up with the educational authorities in the US as how it allowed the university to function, how it was allowed to dupe gullible Indian students."
