Australia on Monday "unreservedly" condemned the murder of an Indian national as New Delhi angrily slammed the attack and warned it could hurt bilateral ties.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard stressed that Australia welcomed foreign students after accounting graduate Nitin Garg, 21, was stabbed by unknown attackers Saturday night before collapsing in the Melbourne burger restaurant where he worked.
Indian students have been hit by hundreds of alleged race attacks, prompting street protests last year and damaging Australia's lucrative international education industry.
"I obviously unreservedly condemn this attack," Gillard said. "People in Melbourne's west, people around the nation, I think they will be joining together to say we unreservedly condemn this violence."
She was speaking after India decried the murder as a "crime on humanity" and said it would "certainly" affect ties between the two countries.
"This heinous crime on humanity, this is an uncivilised brutal attack on innocent Indians," Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna told reporters.
"It certainly will have some bearing on the bilateral ties between our two countries," he added.
Police have said there is no evidence the murder was racially motivated, but also told AFP that 1,447 people of Indian descent were crime victims in Victoria state in the 12 months to July 2008.
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