Attacks on Indians; Australia says it has stepped up policing

In the wake of recent attacks on Indians, Australia has stepped up "visible policing" in the vulnerable areas and is amending laws as part of steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents, its Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said.

In the wake of recent attacks on Indians, Australia has stepped up "visible policing" in the vulnerable areas and is amending laws as part of steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents, its Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said.

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Australia has also initiated steps to ensure that Indians aspiring to receive education there get "accurate" information like rules and the required financial resources so that they face no problems, she told PTI in an interview in new Delhi.

Gillard, who was here to assuage apprehensions regarding security of Indians in the aftermath of attacks, maintained that Australia is a "safe" and a welcome nation for Indians.

Suggesting that the assaults on Indian students were not racist in nature, she said these were motivated by robbery and other law and order issues.

"The advice from police was that these attacks were motivated by robbery and these were genuine policing and crime problems in parts of the cities where these attacks occurred," Gillard said.

"However, whatever the motivation for these attacks, if someone is hurt, we want to respond and we want to do whatever we can to make sure that people are safe and that is the reason that police presence has been increased," she said.

Talking about the steps initiated by her government, Gillard said, "We are keen to ensure that wherever we had problems there is visible policing and that is happening."