Foreign Minister SM Krishna leaves for home

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna left for home wrapping up his five-day visit, during which he received assurances from the Australian leadership that safety and security of Indian students here will be protected.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Monday left for home wrapping up his five-day visit, during which he received assurances from the Australian leadership that safety and security of Indian students here will be protected.

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During his visit, Krishna participated in the Annual Post Forum Dialogue Meeting of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) in Cairns and met Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith.

Krishna, who raised the issue of racial attacks against Indian students in Australia with Rudd and Smith, was assured by them that every Indian student in this country would be protected.

The External Affairs Minister also met with the Indian community members and visited student from Andhra Pradesh Shravan Kumar, who is yet to fully recover from a brutal assault by a group of teenagers in Melbourne in May.

At least 23 Indian students have been attacked in this country in the past three months, which has threatened Australia's $13-billion international education industry. Australia is home to over 95,000 Indian students