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As India issued a travel advisory for Australia following unabated assaults and killing of its citizens, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard insisted that her country is safe for all international students and said "acts of violence" occur in big cities around the world.
She said the travel warning was a matter for the Indian government and that Australia will continue to welcome students from that country.
Gillard insisted that Australia was a safe country for all international students.
"In big cities around the world we do see acts of violence from time to time; that happens in Melbourne, it happens in Mumbai, it happens in New York, it happens in London," she was quoted as saying by ABC news.
"Any individual act of violence is obviously to be deeply regretted and our sympathies go to anyone who is harmed by an act of violence" the minister said.
India yesterday issued an advisory asking its citizens studying or planning to study in Australia to take certain basic precautions to ensure their safety.
Pointing to several incidents of assault on Indians in Australia and particularly in Melbourne, including the killing of 21-year-old student Nitin Garg on January 2, the advisory said students should be alert about their own security while moving around.