“India-Australia ties are strong…won’t be disrupted”: FS Kwatra

Sydney [Australia], May 24 (ANI): Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday highlighted the strong ties between New Delhi and Canberra and said that the friendly relations will not be disrupted by attacks on temples or activities of separatist elements in Australia.

Addressing the special briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third day in Australia, Kwatra said, “You would have clearly noticed when the honourable Prime Minister of India said, and which was clearly appreciated by the Australian side, that India-Australia ties are very strong, very deep, very extensive, and we would not allow these friendly ties to be disrupted by such elements. Prime Minister also thanked the honourable Prime Minister of Australia for his assurance.”

He said that both PM Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese discussed the recent spat of attacks on temples in Australia as such activities are disruptive to the relationship between the two countries.

“Attack on the temples and the other such activities are disruptive to the relationship. As you heard the Honourable Prime Minister (PM Modi) say in his press remarks that the attack on the temples and the activities of the other separatist elements, were discussed between the two Prime Ministers earlier, also during Prime Minister Albanese’s visit to India, and today also from the discussions last time till this time,” he said.

He further stated that the progress is reflected and PM Modi thanked his Australian counterpart for the action that the government has taken against the elements which perpetrated such attacks.

Notably, several cases of Khalistani extremism and brawls between Khalistani activists and pro-India demonstrators have recently come to the fore in several parts of Australia. Indian flags were burnt and even a Hindu temple was vandalised recently in Australia.

Earlier, while addressing the press conference along with Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese, PM Modi raised the issue of attacks on temples in the country and said that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had assured to take “strict actions against such elements in the future.”

“PM Anthony Albanese and I have in the past discussed the issue of attacks on temples in Australia and activities of separatist elements. We discussed the matter today also. We will not accept any elements that harm the friendly and warm ties between the India-Australia relationship by their action or thoughts. PM Albanese assured me once again today that he will take strict actions against such elements in the future also,” he added.

Earlier, Albanese during his India visit in March had said that Australia won’t tolerate any extreme actions and attacks that took place in religious buildings, and there is no place for such action against Hindu temples.

Responding to a media query about the assurances that the Australian PM gave to his Indian counterpart, Albanese said, “I gave him the assurance that Australia is a country that respects people’s faith. That we don’t tolerate the sort of extreme actions and attacks that we have seen on religious buildings, be they Hindu temples, mosques, synagogues, or churches. This has no place in Australia.”

“And we will take every action through our police and also our security agencies to make sure that anyone responsible for this faces the full force of the law. We’re a tolerant multicultural nation, and there is no place in Australia for this activity,” the statement quoted him saying.