Attacks could vitiate ties, India tells Australia (Third Lead)

BANGALORE/MELBOURNE - Taking a stern view of the fatal stabbing of an Indian student in Australia, India Monday said that “unfortunate incidents” like these could “vitiate” relations between the two countries. Australia has condemned the incident and assured Indians that it is a “welcoming and accepting country”.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Monday said the Australian government was “duty bound and morally bound to investigate and bring the culprit to book” in the killing of student Nitin Garg.

Speaking to reporters in Bangalore, Krishna said: “That is the least the Australian government can do and that is what we expect.”

Krishna said “unfortunate incidents like the Indian student’s killing will only vitiate the atmosphere of trust and cordiality” between the two countries.

He, however, added that relations between the two countries were strong as shown by the visits of Australian leaders to India and his own trip to that country last year.

Krishna also said he has spoken to India’s High Commissioner Sujatha Singh in Canberra Monday. She has taken up the issue with the Australian government “in the strongest possible terms”.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemned the killing of Garg.

“I unreservedly condemn this attack. This is a nation that welcomes international students. We want to make them welcome, this is a welcoming and accepting country,” Gillard said in Melbourne.

Garg, 21, an accounting graduate, was knifed in West Footscray Saturday while on way to work. He staggered to Hungry Jack’s restaurant and pleaded for help before collapsing.

He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where he died. Garg hailed from Punjab.

On Australian police’s view that the attack on Garg was not racist, Krishna said “the fact of the matter is that an Indian student has been murdered and the culprit should be brought to book”.

Canberra insisted it was too early to conclude it was a racist attack — an issue that has generated much heat in India.

Garg’s housemate Sandeep disclosed he had been beaten and threatened with a knife by a gang at Newport train station just over a year ago.

Sandeep, who had offered to drive Garg to work Saturday night, was quoted as saying in The Age: “I saw him 15 minutes before it happened. He would have gone through the park as it was a short cut to Hungry Jack’s. He was a good man, a great guy.”

The killing caused outrage among the community in Australia. “It’s going to create some level of panic and we need some sort of reassurance from the government and the police,” said Gautam Gupta of the Federation of Indian Students of Australia in Melbourne.

He said there was growing fear in the Indian community and this would escalate, whether the attack was racist or otherwise. “It’s obviously a real shock to our community; nobody expects the new year to start like this.”

Acting Victorian Premier Rob Hulls said: “The tragic death of a young Indian lad is abhorrent, it is a heinous crime and it is something that the police are putting all resources into investigating and finding the culprit. I don’t think anyone should jump to conclusions at this stage.