Australia invites Indian PM on official visit

SYDNEY - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been invited to make an official visit to Australia next year, an official said Thursday.

According to Australian Associated Press, Singh, who will be in Perth in October next year for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), has been invited to extend his time in Australia for a separate official visit either before or after the CHOGM, a spokesman for Australian premier Julia Gillard said.

Singh has yet to formally accept the invitation and the Indian high commission in Canberra Thursday declined to comment, the report said.

Singh met with Gillard on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit last Saturday in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi.

India is Australia’s fourth biggest export market and over 400,000 people living in Australia claim Indian ancestry.

It is expected Mnmohan Singh’s visit may go some way to allaying concerns about safety of Indian students.

There had been a string of attacks on Indian students in Australia, causing outrage in India. The assaults mainly took place in Melbourne and Sydney.