Australia plays down Indian advisory, says country is safe

MELBOURNE/NEW DELHI - Australia has played down a travel advisory issued by India, warning its citizens to take precautions to protect themselves against violence, and said the country was safe for international students.

Canberra’s damage control operation began even as India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Wednesday said in New Delhi that the Australian government had assured India that the killers of an Indian student would be brought to justice.

We have an assurance both from the Australian and Victorian government that they will go after the perpetrators of the heinous crime and will bring them to justice, Krishna said.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard insisted that her country was safe for all international students and asserted that “acts of violence” were reported from big cities around the world.

“In big cities around the world we do see acts of violence from time to time; that happens in Melbourne, it happens in Mumbai, it happens in New York, it happens in London,” Gillard was quoted as saying by ABC news.

“Any individual act of violence is obviously to be deeply regretted and our sympathies go to anyone who is harmed by an act of violence” she said.

Gillard said the travel warning issued by India Tuesday was a matter for the Indian government. She added that Australia would continue to welcome students from that country.

India issued a travel advisory Tuesday in the wake of the the killing last week of Nitin Garg, who was stabbed while on way to work in Melbourne Saturday night.

“The government advises Indian students studying in Australia, as well as those planning to study there, that they should take certain basic precautions in being alert to their own security while moving around,” the eight-point Indian advisory said.

The advisory asks Indian citizens to report complaints to Indian diplomatic missions in Australia.

“The number of such incidents of assault as well as of robbery has been on the rise in recent months, which has affected not only Indian students but also members of the larger Indian community in Australia,” it added.

Nearly 100,000 Indian students study in Australia, contributing around $2 billion to the country’s economy.

Fearing the impact such an advisory may have on international students coming to study in Australia, acting Australian foreign minister Simon Crean has urged Indian leaders to avoid whipping up hysteria and stressed that Melbourne was safe for visitors.

“What we have to do is to let the investigations take their course, but certainly on the basis of what we’re being told so far, by the Victorian authorities, there’s no basis for a racial motivation behind this,” Crean told Australian radio.

The Acting Premier of Victoria Rob Hulls asserted that Melbourne is a welcoming, open place.

“Whilst warnings are entirely a matter for the Indian government, everyone needs to realise that Melbourne is a welcoming, open place that certainly welcomes Indian students and students from all around the world,” he said.

Hulls urged the Indian government to show restraint in its response to the killing. “People should just show some restraint and allow the police to get on with the job of investigating this callous crime.”