Canberra: The alleged racial attacks against Indian students in Australia has become a great concern for the Indian government. After the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd showed his concern at the series of attacks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday evening called the Australian PM to convey his concerns.
Ministry of External Affairs has said that government of India is very concerned about the attacks on Indians and Indian consulate in Australia is in constant touch with Indian students.
The Ministry also said that the Australian envoy, who was summoned on Friday in New Delhi, told that Indian students feel vicious attacks are increasing.
The Australian PM Kevin Rudd called up PM Manmohan Singh earlier on Friday.
External Affairs Ministry has said that continued unease can have an adverse affect on a sector that shows such promise.
The apparently racial attacks on Indian students in Australia took on bigger proportions on Friday as one of the victims continued to be in a coma. In the last couple of weeks, there has been a spate of attacks on Indians, the latest being the attack on Baljinder Singh who was stabbed by two men in the abdomen as he was leaving a railway station.
The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has intervened in the matter as India made its concerns public.
"I am concerned about any act of violence in the streets and suburbs of Australia's cities and towns and particularly when we are obviously hosts to students from around the world. It is appalling in every sense. Any act of violence, any decent human being just responds with horror at the sorts of attack which have occurred recently," Rudd said.
Prime Minister Rudd, at long last, condemned the attacks on Indians, but even now his country seems to be in a state of denial about the racist nature of these repeated incidents. In fact one police officer even suggested Indians could be to blame, saying they attract the wrong kind of attention.
Earlier, External Affairs Ministry summoned Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy in New Delhi to convey its concerns and ask his government to prevent attacks on them.
McCarthy was called by Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs N Ravi to convey India's concerns, responding to which the Australian envoy said his government is taking steps to stop such incidents.
"I was asked to come to the Ministry of External Affairs to discuss the recent attacks on Indian students in Australia. Mr Ravi conveyed Indian concerns very clearly and urged that we take steps to ensure that these sorts of incidents do not occur," McCarthy said after his meeting at MEA.
McCarthy condemned the attacks on Indian students and noted that similar statements had been made by several senior leaders in Australia.
Five held in Australia
Meanwhile, Australian police have arrested five teenagers in connection with the recent spate of attacks on Indian students here, and charged one of them for attempted murder.
A 17-year-old boy was charged with attempted murder after four Indian students, including Shravan Kumar, were brutally attacked by gatecrashers at a party in Melbourne's north on Saturday night, according to the Victorian police.
Kumar, 25, who was attacked with a screwdriver at a birthday party continued to remain critical and is still on life support.
Another 18-year-old was questioned in relation to the attack but has since been released. (With PTI inputs)