New Delhi: No fresh attacks on Indian students have been reported from
Australia recently, parliament was informed on Friday.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said, "The number of attacks on Indian students on record in Melbourne has reduced and no case of attack on Indian students has been registered in the last three months in Melbourne."
He said that an Indian delegation had visited
Australia in April this year and had held extensive discussions with
Australian officials in Western
Australia, New South Wales and Victoria regarding the safety and well-being of Indian students.
Sibal said the Indian authorities have urged the
Australian authorities to take stringent measures to stop such attacks and also to apprehend the culprits involved in attacks.
He also said that the
Australian government has undertaken various measures for protection and safety of Indian students, including introduction of an international students care service, deployment of additional forces, amendments in sentencing laws and empowering police forces to combat violence and antisocial behavior.
The high commissioner of India has also had several meetings in 2009 and 2010 with the concerned ministers of
Australia, he added.
Indian students have been at the receiving end of a spate of racially motivated attacks in the country. Various students have been injured in such attacks and some have even lost their lives.
Around 100,000 Indians are studying in
Australia.
IANS