Things For Indian student Safety In Australia

Varghese said the Australian government had taken a series of measures which had led to "things being a lot calmer than they were 12 months ago".

"Look, I think that the issue of safety of Indian students is behind us really. We have taken a series of measures at federal government level, state government level and in relation to our police forces," Varghese told the sources in an interview here.

"All of those measures, which range from law enforcement to registration of educational institutions and to changes to our migration policy - separating out education and migration. I think all of those have helped us to manage this issue and I think that things are a lot calmer now than they were 12 months ago," the envoy said.

"I think there is a recognition by the Indian government that we have taken the matter seriously enough and taken action on it. We would be happy to give Mr. Krishna an update on how things are and a full briefing on the measures that are taken," he said.

"We do regular surveys of attitudes of international students and the most recent surveys have shown that the Indian students in Australia continue to be very positive about their experience in Australia," Varghese asserted. Since a majority of the student community in Australia - which is around 300,000 - is from Punjab, the Australian government sees Punjab as an important place.

"We would not have opened a (trade) office here if we were not interested in expanding the relationship and if we didn't recognize that it is an important relationship for us."

"In Punjab, at the moment, not much is there on the investment front. The sort of things we are looking at is doing in the agriculture sector. That would involve more Australian technology and expertise than investment. Educational linkages also do not necessarily require investment," Varghese said.

The high commissioner said that investment between India and Australia has not been as much as the potential is.

"Investment has kind of lagged behind in the economic relationship. I am very keen to see investment in both directions. We are now seeing some substantial Indian investment in Australia in coal which is very good," he said.

"Over time as the economic relationship base broadens and Australian companies get in other sectors, we will see more Australian investment into India. I want to see that happening more often," the high commissioner added. IANS