Anxious parents of the more than 120,000 Indian students in Australia are asking for clear answers to certain questions. A clear message needs to be sent back to them, writes Sujatha Singh, India's high commissioner to Australia.
'They are too connected for the relationship to completely sour.' 'It will be difficult to mend this relationship, but it will start with full and clear evidence on the issue in question.'
An Australian delegation on Tuesday said the attacks on Indian students were not racial but were done with a primary motive of stealing.
Terming the racial attacks on Indian students in Australia as 'generic', former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist has said that the country was safe for students.
Amid growing concern over the spate of attacks on Indian students Down Under, India and Australia decided on Monday to form a joint working group to coordinate between the two countries in ensuring safety of the students there. The decision was taken in New Delhi at a meeting between a high-level Australian delegation and officials of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
The Indian Council of Medical Research was in talks with the Serum Institute of India for local manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies (MABs). However, it did not take off, as the volume was much less in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese will hold extensive talks on Friday with a focus on boosting overall bilateral ties in areas of trade and investment, defence and critical minerals.
Indian High Commissioner Sujata Singh, who met premier of Victoria John Brumby and top police and educational officials of the province, said there is a 'racist element in some of the attacks' but many of them were 'opportunistic'.
Denying any adverse affect on business relations, Primus CEO Ravi Bhatia said, "Such crimes have been wrongly dubbed by the Indian media as 'an organised and planned racial violence.'" He described such incidents as serious law and order issues. Fortunately, it is now being recognised in India that there was an over-reaction there and Australia remains one of the best potential business partner for India, he said.
A young Indian journalist was threatened and attacked after she went underground to reveal migration and education scams in Australia that try to defraud international students, including those from India.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has admitted that Indian students' concerns about the quality of education and safety measures in Australia were "legitimate."
India's Sumit Antil wins javelin throw F64 gold with Paralympics record of 70.59m, becomes first Indian man to defend title.
Under the new rule which came into effect on Saturday, all student visas to foreigners will be granted with work rights attached, removing the need for people to file an additional application. More than 30,000 Indians were granted student visa in year ending June 2007 and they had to file separate applications for taking up part-time jobs in Australia.
'Healthcare is not an industry.' 'The government is only encouraging insurance as they are not able to provide healthcare to people.' 'Opening new medical colleges is not what is needed.' 'You have to invest in public sector hospitals.' 'You cannot hand over healthcare to the private industry.'
Australia on Thursday assured India that 'firm action' will be taken against those responsible for the recent attacks on Indian students, as External Affairs Minister S M Krishna took up the issue with the authorities in Sydney, amid serious concerns over it back home. During his meeting with New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees, Krishna, who is on a five-day visit to Australia, was assured that firm action will be taken against the perpetrators.
A cartoon in a Delhi newspaper, which allegedly depicted a Victoria policeman as a member of hate group Ku Klux Klan in the wake of attacks on Indians, has sparked an outrage in Australia with acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemning it as "deeply offensive".
With Australia relaxing its visa norms to accomodate more Indian students, the country could well be a good option to study abroad, says counsellor Suchitra Surve of Growth Centre.
Two fresh cases of assault on Indians have been reported in Australia, with three students attacked in two separate incidents, even as the Immigration Minister prepared to leave for India to reassure that his country is a safe destination for students.
In yet another incident targeting Indians in Australia, a student-cum-cabbie was threatened with knife by his two passengers, even as the Australian police insisted that these cases were not racially-motivated.
Without making an excuse for the recent spate of violence against Indians, Australia has said that the feedback received from the half a million-strong Indian student community has been 'positive'. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was quoted by a news report as saying that despite the recent spate of violence, the feedback received from the nearly half a million Indian students was positive towards the country, but that did not excuse the incidents.
The violent attacks on Indian students have not ended despite the massive furore Down Under but Adam Gilchrist insists Australia remains open to overseas students and a majority of universities are safe for them.
With incidents of attacks on Indians in Australia on the rise, many community members feel the root cause of such assaults is not race but the students' financial conditions that force them to be out at night for odd jobs to meet high cost of living in Australia.
According to a 2021 Redseer report, India's overseas education market is estimated to more than double to $80 billion by 2024.
Be well prepared. Support your argument clearly, precisely.
Canada has emerged as the most preferred country for Indian students abroad.
As India's diplomatic tensions with the Land of the Maple Leaf escalate, so do the anxieties of countless Punjabis.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday that his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi gets a 'rock star reception' wherever he goes, as he welcomed his 'dear friend' at an event in Sydney and compared him to American singer Bruce Springsteen.
During the briefing, Jaiswal reiterated that so far no evidence has been shared by Canada.
In yet another racial attack on Indian students in Australia, a 22-year-old Sikh youth was assaulted by a group of six teenagers, who tried to remove his turban and cut his hair. Resham Singh, a student who came from Punjab six months ago, became the 20th victim within a month, when he was attacked on Monday at Dandenong Station in Melbourne.Singh, who could not speak English properly, explained in Punjabi, "They tried to remove my turban and cut my hair."
The Australian government announced a new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) proposed to come into effect from July 1, 2010.
27-year-old Harjot Hundal Singh dragged the woman into his van, tied her hands and told her to stop shouting or he would kill her, according to an AAP report on Wednesday.
One of Australia's most prominent Indian-born businessmen has astonishingly said that the bashed students from his homeland provoked the assaults on themselves by being drunk and "making merry."
It is not clear, however, if Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who ended his visit to India on Friday, bit the bullet and told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he would work on his Labour Party back home and convince them to slowly withdraw its ban on the sale of uranium to India.
'We are careful not to walk the streets after dark. We are not safe because there are people here, who think Indians should not be in Australia,' The Daily Telegraph quoted Bharat Chauhan, an accounting student in Australia, as saying.
The Oscar winning music composer hopes music can relieve the ongoing tension between India and Australia following racist attacks.
With assaults on Indians in Australia showing no let-up, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is expected to take up the issue with his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith whom he will meet on the sidelines of a conference in London later this week.
Listen carefully to what others say and stay open to opportunities of grasping the new learning atmosphere.
Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh, who played an instrumental role in Men in Blue's T20 World Cup triumph, opened up on Friday about getting a chance in Test cricket
Australia's medicines and medical devices regulator on Monday formally recognised India's Covaxin, a vaccine against the coronavirus as the country's border was reopened for the first time in nearly 20 months.
India on Thursday warned Canada against giving space to separatists and extremists elements, saying it was not good for the bilateral ties, days after a video of a float, depicting the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, at a parade in Brampton went viral on social media.
