The central government would soon formulate a policy to deal with racial discrimination against Indians abroad, told Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur on Saturday. Arriving in her hometown Patiala for the first time after being inducted in the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Preneet Kaur expressed concern at the plight of students from India who have been facing racist attacks in Australia for about a month now.
She said, 'We have taken up the matter at various levels with the Australian government. Even the prime minister has spoken to his Australian counterpart. We want that the dignity of Indians is maintained in other countries.' There have been nearly a dozen attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and other places in Australia in recent weeks, leading to protests there by Indian students. The families of students studying there have also expressed concern. Nearly half of the 90,000-odd Indian students studying in various educational institutions in Australia are from Punjab alone. The education immigration business from India is said to be worth Rs.100 billion (INR10,000 crore).
