New Delhi:
A second incident of a possible fatal attack on an Indian came to light on Tuesday with a body found in southern Australia last week identified as that of an Indian, even as officials from both countries prepare to meet to defuse the tension following the murder of a migrant here.
A partially-burnt body found last week in Australia's New South Wales province is believed to be of a 25-year old Indian national, police said on Tuesday, in what might be the second fatality in a slew of vicious attacks on Indians.
The body found on a roadside near Griffith on December 29 is however yet to be formally identified and Australian officers are in touch with the man's family in India and the Indian Consulate to help with identification, the New South Wales Police Force said in a statement.
Indian diplomats here are expected to meet Australian officials in a bid to defuse diplomatic tension between Canberra and New Delhi after the murder.
Indian High Commissioner in Canberra Sujatha Singh would be meeting Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials soon, V K Sharma, deputy high commissioner said.
On Saturday, another Indian, 21-year-old Nitin Garg was stabbed on his way to work for a night shift at a Hungry Jacks fast food restaurant in the west of the city in the state of Victoria.
But Australian authorities insist there is still no evidence that the attack was racially motivated, claiming that the country is a safe place for international students and migrants.
On Monday night, people laid flowers and candles, and carried signs reading "Indian Students Welcome Here".
Australian Acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean said on Tuesday that there was still no suggestion that Garg's attack was racially motivated.
"It is an unfortunate, very unfortunate circumstance, but the police have continued to re-affirm the fact that there is no evidence that this is a racially-based attack," Crean told reporters in Melbourne. He added that the incident was one of several stabbings that took place in Melbourne over the Christmas period, and emphasised that such attacks can happen anywhere.
The stabbing has caused outrage in India, following a number of attacks on Indian students in Australia in 2009.
Last year, reports that Indian students in Australia were targeted in violent attacks prompted senior government officials to discuss the issue with authorities in New Delhi, including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Australian police say that while some attacks on Indians are racially motivated, many are ordinary crimes.
Some 97-thousand Indians are among more than half a million foreigners studying in Australia, an industry worth almost 12 billion Australian dollars a year.