Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith continues his trip in New Delhi. He’s assuring India that the Australian government is doing all it can to make Indian students welcome Down Under.

Smith says Australian authorities are committed to bringing those behind a series of attacks on Indian students to justice.

[Stephen Smith, Australian Foreign Minister]: (Male, English)
“We have already made 70 arrests. We want the culprits to be brought to justice and we want all Indian students to have the same experience which the vast bulk of visitors to Australia have -- which is a peaceful experience and in the education area, and a quality education experience."

India says the attacks were racist in nature.

[Stephen Smith, Australian Foreign Minister]: (Male, English)
"There have been a number of assaults on Indian students in Australia particularly in Melbourne in the last couple of years and we have zero tolerance for that and we condemned them absolutely. It is also the case that a small number of those have had racist or racial overtones associated with it.”

Foreign students are Australia's third-largest foreign exchange earner bringing in earnings of 13 billion dollars in 2008.

And this income could be lost if these students decide to study somewhere else.

So far, around 4,000 Indian students have cancelled their plans to study in Australia.