International BusinessKrishna tells Aussie envoy of security expectations
India’s foreign minister today advised its students to be “more discreet” in choosing educational institutes and courses of study in Australia, whose high commissioner admitted there was a drop in applications of Indian students following media coverage of attacks on them.
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Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese (born of parents who emigrated from here) met Foreign Minister S M Krishna on the sidelines of a function here. Krishna told reporters Indian students needed to be more choosy about going there for vocational courses which were easily available in India.
“First, I have my own doubts about Indian students going there to pursue higher education. I can understand if it was at the level of universities, IITs or some other institution of excellence,” he said. “But, when I went to Australia, I was shocked to see that so many students had gone there for various other courses.”
“Australia doesn’t need to teach us about facials, hair styling and various other things. There are a number of institutions in India itself - in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore,” Krishna said. And added: “I would advise the students and also tell parents that they should be more discreet about choosing educational institutes for their children.”
Reacting to Krishna’s comments, Varghese said though there had been a reduction in the number of applications from Indian students in the aftermath of the media coverage after the recent attacks, “We (Australia) are not in a numbers’ game. We are in for quality.”
Adding: “The courses that students wish to pursue in Australia is a matter of their discretion. The aim is to provide high-quality education to them - whether it is at the university level or the vocational level.”
“There has been a reduction of applications from Indian students. I accept that there would be some prospective students who would not like to pursue (education in Australia) in view of the coverage,” he said. On his discussions, he said he told the minister that he appreciated the manner in which Krishna had handled the issue.
Varghese denied that Australia had ever said the Indian reaction to the killing of an Indian student in Melbourne had been ‘hysterical’, as had been reported in some parts of the media. Krishna said India expected that its citizens, whether they were students or otherwise, be safe in that country. “None of us needs to be hysterical but all that we expect is that Indians, whether they are students or otherwise, should be safe in the countries to which they go for pursuing their higher studies,” he said
Meanwhile, the police in the Australian state of Victoria, where a student was killed the other day, said they supported the general statements made in the Indian government’s advisory to students that Melbourne, the state capital, had seen an increase in violence, that this was often “accompanied by verbal abuse, fuelled by alcohol and drugs”.
The backing by the Victoria police is in sharp contrast to the state and federal government’s attempts to promote Australia as a safe place to travel and study.
Commenting on the Indian advisory on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard had said the ‘factual situation’ was that Australia remained a safe country, with a low homicide rate by world standards. “In big cities around the world, we do see acts of violence from time to time,” she said. “That happens in Melbourne, it happens in Mumbai, it happens in New York...That’s a matter for the Indian government, what it puts on its travel advisories, but the situation here is we are a safe country, we’re a welcoming country, we certainly seek to welcome international students,” she had said.