Krishna meets Aus PM, Foreign Minister;discusses student issue

Natasha Chaku

Cairns, Aug 7 (PTI) A concerned India on Friday took up
with Australia the spate of attacks on its nationals pursuing
studies here when Union External Affairs Minister S M Krishna
and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met to discuss the issue as well
as other areas of cooperation like nuclear energy and trade.

Krishna, the first senior leader to visit Australia to
convey India's concerns on the student issue, met Rudd as well
as his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith on the sidelines
of Pacific Island Forum in this northern Australian city.

The External Affairs Minister said India was "deeply
concerned" about the safety and security of its students in
Australia.

"Any problem faced by them causes great concern not
only amongst the wider Indian community in Australia but also
back home in India," he told a joint press conference with
Smith after the meetings.

Krishna said his five-day visit to Australia, which began
on Wednesday, was aimed at getting reassurance at the highest
level for the students.

Turning to other issues, Krishna said India needed to
expand the use of nuclear power to meet its growing energy
requirement in a climate-friendly way.

"While we have noted Australia's position on the issue
of the supply of uranium to India, we would be interested in
having civil nuclear cooperation with Australia as well as and
when it is ready," the minister said.

"We are thankful for Australia's support in IAEA and NSG.
Following the NSG waiver we have been making progress on civil
nuclear cooperation with partners such as US, France and
Russia," Krishna said.

India and Australia are also focussed on expanding
cooperation in two-way trade and investment in various sectors
especially in energy and resources, the minister said.
"There is a significant degree of complementarity
between our two economies," he said.

"Our decision to undertake a free trade agreement
feasibility study is an indication of the great potential that
we see for growth in trade and investment between our two
countries," the minister said.

Australian Foreign Minister Smith said that Canberra
wanted to take the relations with India to the frontline.

"We spoke all the aspects of bilateral issues during
our meeting today," said Smith, who has accepted the
invitation to visit India in October as a part of the
Australia-India Framework Dialogue.

On the student issue, Smith said Australia continues to
be a safe and secure destination for overseas students. "We
also spoke about some emerging issues including quality of
education," he added.

Krishna also said the matter was not just about the
safety, but it also related to the quality of educational
experience that many Indian students were facing.

"Unfortunately, they (the students) are facing growing
problems in educational institutions. Many of them have been
exploited and not given the education that they have been
promised in spite of paying heavy fees," Krishna said.

"There seems to be loopholes in the system that permit
exploitation of students by unscrupulous education agents" and
this "regrettably reflect unfavorably on the Australian higher
education system even though most of abuses take place in
certain training and vocational colleges," the minister said.

Asked if the Indian students' number will drop at
Australian universities in the wake of the attacks against
them, Krishna said the relationship between the two sides had
matured and such small irritants, which took place in the last
three months, would not upset it.

"I have come here to get the assurances at the highest
level so that every Indian student's welfare is protected by
government of Australia and I am convinced of the assurances
provided by the Australian side," he said.

Krishna said that Rudd and Smith assured him that their
government would look into all the aspects of the student
issue and measures will be put in place to address it.

On a query on supply of uranium to India, Krishna said
the Australian position remained the same when Smith had
visited New Delhi last time.

"We are looking for routing it to other countries for
setting up bilateral ties on civil nuclear cooperation," he
said. PTI NC