Murder of Indian graduate condemned

Australia's government today said there was no evidence of a racial motive behind a series of attacks on Indian students, including…

Australia's government today said there was no evidence of a racial motive behind a series of attacks on Indian students, including the killing of an Indian graduate last Saturday.

Accounting graduate Nitin Garg (21) originally from the state of Punjab in northern India, was stabbed to death on Saturday night on his way to a job at a fast food outlet in Melbourne.

"What we have to do is to let the investigations take their course, but certainly on the basis of what we're being told so far, by the Victorian authorities, there's no basis for a racial motivation behind this," Acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean told Australian radio today.

The latest incident follows a series of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney in 2009.

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Indian media have labelled attacks against Indian students in Australia as racist, but police and the government have said the attacks are purely criminal.

Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna issued a statement condemning the "brutal attack", with Indian media reporting him warning the attacks were creating "deep anger" in India and could have a "bearing on bilateral ties".

About 4,000 Indian students have already cancelled plans to study in Australia and Mr Crean said he did not expect travel warnings or sanctions, appealing for "cooler heads to prevail".

Australian and Indian diplomats discussed the murder and Australia's security response in Canberra today, Mr Crean said.

In neighbouring New South Wales state, police also confirmed that a partially burned body found by a road last week belonged to another Indian national.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said there should be no rush to judgement over the spate of attacks and defended Australia's crime rate as one of the world's lowest.

"We all know, tragically, in the world that we live in, whether you're in Melbourne, or whether you're in New Delhi, you can come to grief through violent incidents," Ms Gillard told reporters.

"We've seen the death of a young man in Melbourne. That act is to be condemned by every Australian," she said.

Reuters