India angry after attack on man in Australia

The Indian government has criticized Australia for failing to prevent attacks on Indian nationals after an Indian man was set on fire in Melbourne, Australian Associated Press reports Sunday.

Crime squad investigators said the circumstances, leading up to a 29-year-old Indian man being set on fire in an alleged attack early on Saturday, are "unusual" - but not racially motivated.

The man is in hospital in a serious condition with burns to his hands, face and legs.

It is alleged that he was randomly approached by four men who burned his car and set him on fire.

"I believe there's no reason at this stage to consider this in any way racially motivated," Detective Acting Senior Sergeant NeilSmyth told reporters on Saturday.

"The circumstances of parking a car randomly on a side street and just some people approaching him are a bit strange and it's highly unlikely, therefore, to be a targeted attack on any individual."

But India's Overseas Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, who is responsible for Indians working or studying abroad, reacted sharply on Saturday and rebuked Australia for failing to prevent such attacks.

"I want to make it loudly clear that the Australian government should take preventive action," he said on the sidelines of a conference in Delhi.

Source: Xinhua