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Manmohan talks to Oz PM New Delhi, May 29 Rudd told Manmohan Singh that he was appalled by the attacks and that the concerned authorities would work to bring the perpetrators to justice, the PMO said. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is in Bangalore, spoke to his Australian counterpart Stephen Francis Smith and asked him to provide better security to Indian students. “The Australian Foreign Minister spoke to me this afternoon. He assured me that Indian students would be protected from such attacks and the culprits would be brought to justice,” Krishna told reporters. Expressing concern over the unabated attacks, he said the Indian High Commission in Sydney was in constant touch with the Australian government and efforts were on to ensure safety of students. In New Delhi, Australian High Commissioner to India John McCarthy was summoned by Secretary (East) N Ravi to the foreign office this afternoon and was told that more needed to be done by the Australian authorities to prevent such attacks and that those behind the recent assaults on Indian students be brought to justice. Approached by reporters at the South Block, the Australian envoy said he was asked to come to the ministry to discuss the recent attacks on Indian students. “The Indian government conveyed its concern very clearly and urged that we take steps to ensure that these sorts of incidents do not occur,” he added. Meanwhile, Vayalar Ravi, who took over as Overseas Indian Affairs Minister this morning, said setting up of an institutional mechanism to deal with attacks on Indian students abroad and a project to help jobless workers returning from the gulf countries would be high on his agenda.
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Scared family may call Baljinder back Karnal, May 29 Even as Baljinder is recuperating fast in one of the hospitals in Melbourne, his family members, residents of Sector 8 here, are worried about his well-being. His mother Krishna has been praying to the God for the safety and fast recovery of her son and his father Dr Mewa Singh, a veterinary doctor, is contemplating of calling his son back to India. Baljinder had left India about two and a half years back to pursue an international course in hotel management despite some objections raised by his family members. His father said if they had known that their son would be attacked in the foreign land, they would have never allowed him to go. He said it was the responsibility of the Indian government to ask the Australian government to ensure the safety of Indian nationals living there. He asserted that the matter should be taken up at the highest level to mount pressure on the Australian government for protection of Indians living there. Baljinder’s sister and an elder brother said they had spoken to him in Australia and he had told them he was out of danger now. They said it appeared that Australia was no longer safe for Indian students and that their brother should come back as soon as he was discharged from the hospital. Baljinder was reportedly attacked near the railway station in Melbourne by two armed men. They had demanded money from him. As per the reports, the robbers had stabbed him in his stomach without waiting for him to find his wallet. This incident came close on the heels of attacks on Indian students - Sourabh Sharma and Shravan Kumar. Some believe that he had been attacked with a racial motive, an allegation still being debated by Australian officials.
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