8 Apr : Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday after signing a major deal on education with Australia said Indian students continued to come to Australia for higher studies and the government had not “prevented them” from doing so.
New Delhi wants to take the “relationship forward” with Canberra, Sibal told reporters.
A joint ministerial statement was signed to expand the education exchange programme.An India-Australia Education Council comprising experts from both countries will now be set up.
The relation between
India and Australia had soured following the fatal stabbing of Nitin Garg on 2nd January in Australia.
A travel advisory had also been issued to Indian students coming to Australia.Sibal on Thursday told reporters that he believed the attacks on young Indians had declined.
“The fact that I am here suggests we want to take the relationship forward, it does not mean that we are not concerned about what’s happening here. The advisory obviously was given at a point in time when the incidents were at a height…students are still coming to Australia, we have not prevented them,” he said.
“I think the Australian government is taking strong steps in that direction to prevent those thing happening.”
The international student numbers were down nationally 3 percent and 12 percent in Victoria.