'Attacks on Indians have potential to hit ties'

New Delhi, Jan 24: Australian ambassador to India Peter Varghese said that the attacks on Indians "have the potential to the hit ties between the two countries."

Speaking in an interview, Varghese said, "It is a serious issue and has to be dealt with and certainly has the potential to impact on the broader relationship."

"But I think we are both working hard to ensure that does not happen," Varghese said.

He further said, "Certainly, we think a number of these crimes are examples of urban crime, assaults, robberies and thefts. We should be prepared to acknowledge this."

"In some cases these crimes would seem to be committed for racial motivations and I think that is completely unacceptable to the government and the vast majority of the Australian community," Varghese added.

There has been a wave of attacks on Indian students since May, 2009. After a brief lull, these have recurred in the last two months, with two of the incidents proving fatal.

OneIndia News