India, Australia sign education deal

MELBOURNE - Indian students continued to come to Australia for higher studies and the government had not “prevented them” from doing so, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said Thursday as the two countries signed a major deal on education.

New Delhi wants to take the “relationship forward” with Canberra, Sibal told reporters as the education pact between India and Australia was signed.

A joint ministerial statement was signed to expand the education exchange programme, Australian news agency AAP reported Thursday.

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 Jan 2 in this city. A travel advisory had also been issued to Indian students coming to Australia.

Sibal 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 was quoted as saying.

“I think the Australian government is taking strong steps in that direction to prevent those thing happening.”

The media report said it was recently revealed that international student numbers were down nationally three percent and 12 percent in Victoria. The drop in Indian student numbers in Victorian institutions was 40 percent, from 6303 to 3761.