AUS-INDIA 2 LAST

"The assaults on Indian students and members of the
larger Indian community in Australia over the past few months
have puzzled us all... The fundamental issue is the growing
number of attacks, which seem to be disproportionately
affecting Indians, especially in and around Melbourne," she
said.
"We are told that one of the reasons our students are
being attacked in Melbourne is that they take public transport
late at night. In this case, it should then apply to Indian
students all across Australia," she said, adding that the
students in the other cities, however, do not seem to be
facing these incidents on the same scale.
"I have been called to India for consultations this
week, in the run-up to the upcoming Parliament session,
beginning on February 22," Singh said.
She said India recognises several measures taken by
Australia to address the various issues, many of them complex
and interrelated.
But said, "it is important to go beyond rhetoric. We
have to make the situation better. It is necessary to see the
results on the ground."
Australia yesterday acknowledged that some of the
recent violence against Indians had clearly been "racially
motivated" and vowed to "punish the culprits with the full
force of law".
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told the Parliament
yesterday that "if any of these attacks have been racist in
nature -- and it seems clear that some of them have -- they
will be punished with the full force of law". PTI