Confusion over minister’s Australian travel advisory remark

The ministry of external affairs got into damage control mode on Friday after minister of state (MoS) Preneet Kaur told reporters in the capital that the government had issued a fresh advisory asking students to temporarily keep away from Australia where attacks against Indians continue.

Hours later, the ministry clarified that no second advisory had been issued and that the minister was referring to the one that was brought out last June. Despite repeated assaults on Indian students, the government has not yet asked them not to travel to Australia.

“On June 12, the ministry had released a report spelling out the dos and don’ts for students planning to go to Australia. The advisory encouraged the students to conduct due diligence and carefully apprise themselves of the ground realities, including suitability of the institution in question, costs involved and consular procedures,” a foreign ministry statement said.

For Preneet Kaur, who had been elected from Punjab from where many of the students under attack came from, it was a constituency issue. Perhaps this is why she got carried away and said that students should refrain from studying in Australia for the time being. Meanwhile, external affairs minister SM Krishna, who was in London for the Afghanistan conference, met his Australian counterpart, Stephen Smith, twice. Smith assured India that a high level working group headed by him would look into the issue and make sure that the attacks stop.

The committee will meet over the weekend and report back on its strategy.

“We are hopeful that something will come out from the investigations,” said Kaur, who placed a wreath on the body of Ranjodh Singh, who was killed in Australia late last month. The body arrived home on Friday.