Sushma Swaraj ‘personally monitoring’ reports of attacks on Indian students in Italy
Three Indian students are believed to have been attacked in Milan with beer bottles ‘because of their skin colour’.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday said she was personally looking into the reports of attacks on Indian students in Milan in Italy. “I got a detailed report,” Swaraj said on Twitter. “Please don’t worry. I am monitoring the situation personally.”
Reports had said that three Indian students in Milan were attacked with beer bottles “because of their skin colour”, according to the Hindustan Times. However, an advisory issued by the Consulate General of India in Milan on Monday did not mention whether the attacks were racially motivated.
“All Indian students are urged to not panic,” the consulate said in its advisory. “The consulate is taking up this matter with the highest level of law and order authorities in Milan...Students are advised to spread the information among other students about the areas where they face such incidents so that such areas can be avoided or approached with greater caution.”
Swaraj’s statement comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni in New Delhi, where both leaders stressed on expanding bilateral relations.