New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) India Tuesday raised issues concerning its students in South Australia when the provincial premier, Jay Weatherill, called on Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi here.

"There are nearly 4,000 Indian students in South Australia and we discussed matters concerning them," Ravi told reporters after meeting Weatherill.

"Universities in South Australia want to offer seats to Indian students and since this is a welcome decision, we discussed it and I told the premier that I would convey this message to the human resource development minister too," he said.

Weatherill said: "We want to send a message to all Indian parents that their children, students are very welcome in South Australia."

"It is a very safe and beautiful place to live and study in. We would like many more to come so that we can look after them and give them first class education," he added.

The meeting and the assurance from Weatherill comes in the wake of concerns about the safety of Indian students studying in Australia following violent incidents a couple of years ago.

In recent years, the number of Indian students going to South Australia has fallen sharply.

A report in Australia in August had claimed that enrolments by Indian students in the first six months of 2012 had fallen by 27 percent primarily because of high exchange rates of Australian dollar and changes in visa requirements for vocational courses.

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