RESIDENTS of the area around Coffs Harbour want to provide Indian students with a ''safe haven'' in Australia and are looking at how to entice students and teachers to the area
After outrage in India about attacks on Indian students studying in Sydney and Melbourne, councillors, educators and business people from near Coffs Harbour are considering a trip to India to establish a relationship that would allow the countries to share knowledge and resources.
A large proportion of Woolgoolga, north of Coffs Harbour, is Sikh. Their ancestors arrived in the area about the time of federation.
A Sikh Indian leader and Coffs Harbour councillor, John Arkan, said
the town's rich Indian history would be a selling point to prospective
students and their parents.''What I'm trying to do - as it really affects me on a personal level because I look the part, with a turban and beard - is give a positive spiel to India and establish a safe haven, a soft landing for Indian students.
''We're a regional community, but if we can foster these notions in our society of everyone being welcome and cross-cultural communication, there's not going to be fear.''
A sister-city relationship could be the first step, followed by teachers and students from the Punjab studying in Coffs Harbour and Indian investment in the region, Mr Arkan said.
The Indian consul-general, Amit Dasgupta, recently visited Coffs Harbour and Woolgoolga, speaking with staff at TAFE and Southern Cross University.
Mr Dasgupta said Indian students would benefit from horticultural and agricultural courses that would help combat a skills shortage in India.
''To have the willingness is step one,'' he said. ''We could build a win-win situation because that's what long-term relationships are based on. India has so much to learn from Australia, and we believe there's something India can give to Australia.''
Mr Dasgupta said the recent fatal stabbing of the Indian student Nitin Garg in west Melbourne was tragic, but it was premature to label it racist.
The general manager of Coffs Harbour City Council, Stephen Sawtell, said a proposal would have to be considered before a delegation could be sent.
''There are always benefits in dealing with other countries.''