Krishna says he was ''taken aback'' by Aus on CWG payments

New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S MKrishna today said he was "taken aback" when his Australiancounterpart Kevin Rudd raised the issue of non-payment of duesto companies for Commonwealth Games-related work during theirbilateral meeting in Melbourne recently.

"Yes, I was taken aback," Krishna admitted when askedif he was taken aback after Australia had raised the issuewith him.

He said he was glad that new Sports Minister AjayMaken was looking into the issue and has announced hisintention of taking action within 10 days.

Rudd had taken up the issue with Krishna during theirbilateral talks last week and the latter promised to deal withthe issue on his return to New Delhi.

According to reports, the Australian companies arepreparing a lawsuit against the Commonwealth Games OrganisingCommittee which allegedly owes millions of dollars to thefirms.