Keen to remove irritants in bilateral ties arising out of the spate of attacks on Indians in Australia, its Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and apprised him of the steps being taken by his government to contain such assaults.
"This morning, I had the honour of calling upon the prime minister to have a conversation about the strategic partnership between Australia and India, the preparation for the Commonwealth Games and also the Indian students' issue," Smith said.
"In my discussion with Dr Singh, he remarked on the values Australia and India share. We both are parliamentary democracies, we both respect the rule of the law, we both respect individual human rights and freedom and we both as countries operate throughout the world, respecting international norms and conducting ourselves in a peaceful way," he said.
Smith was talking to reporters after his meeting with Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi.
On a three-day visit to India, Smith said he was pleased that 'there is much greater understanding' now about the steps being taken by the Australian government to minimise the attacks on Indian students studying in his country.
"We particularly find contemptible any attack which has racial or racist overtones associated with it. We have no tolerance for such attacks," he said.
Smith, who held meetings with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and Home Minister P Chidambaram in the last two days, claimed he had a "very productive round of meetings with Indian leaders".
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