Violence against Indian students has damaged bilateral relations

A new Lowy Institute opinion poll has found that 74 per cent of adult Australians said Australia ’s relationship with India has been damaged following the recent attacks on Indian students.

“The fact that three quarters of Australians said the relationship has been damaged underlines the need for Canberra to take urgent action to repair Australia’s reputation in India,” said Lowy Institute program director and India specialist Rory Medcalf who announced the poll findings at a major conference in New Delhi on Tuesday 4th May.

“Of course the causes of the problem are much more complex than the racism that some media reports have alleged”, said Mr Medcalf, in a speech at the Emerging Leaders Summit, organised by the Advance Global Australians organisation.

“The poll findings emphasise the need for the Rudd government to take more seriously one of Australia ’s most important strategic and economic partners. Canberra needs to release the findings of a criminological study into what actually happened, especially in Victoria , so that we can move on” he said.

Medcalf said the one ‘silver lining’ from the crisis over student welfare had been recognition by the Australian and Indian governments that they needed to treat the bilateral relationship as a priority.

“The challenge now is for both nations to approach this partnership in a truly open-minded way. The potential for both countries to help the other grow in resilience and strategic weight – including in education, security and all forms of energy – remains huge. It is an opportunity neither country can afford to miss.”

The polling shows that 28 per cent of Australians said the relationship with India has been ‘damaged a lot’ while another 46 per cent said it has been ‘damaged a little’.

The nationally representative telephone survey of 1,001 adult Australians was conducted in March and follows almost a year of media attention on the problems facing some Indian students in Australia , including vulnerability to criminal violence and the poor quality of some vocational courses.

Participants were asked: “Do you personally think Australia ’s relationship with India has been damaged or has not been damaged following the recent attacks on Indian students in Australia ? [IF DAMAGED], Is that damaged a lot or damaged a little?”

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