Australia today promised to apply "full force of law" against those responsible for attacks on Indians in that country as External Affairs Minister S M Krishna raised the issue of their safety with his counterpart Stephen Smith in New Delhi.
Krishna "sensitised" Smith about the concerns
here over safety and security of Indians and underlined that measures initiated by the Australian government needed to be "effective" enough to ensure that attacks do not take place.
The issue came up during talks between Krishna and Smith under the 6th India-Australia Foreign Ministers Framework Dialogue under which the two sides discussed ways to enhance ties in various sectors, particularly trade, energy and science and technology.
Smith noted that his government had taken a slew of measures to ensure the safety of 2.5 lakh Indians and was committed to "zero tolerance" approach on it, MEA spokesman Vishnu Prakash said.
A series of attacks had been carried out against Indians, particularly students, in Australia over the last few months with many of them being racist in nature.
Smith said "people who had committed offences against Indian nationals would face the full force of the law," a joint statement issued after the talks said.
Krishna appreciated the assurances given by Australia at the highest level about ensuring safety of Indians and stressed the need for doing more.