A team led by Tanzanian High Commissioner, John W.H. Kijazi, will visit Bengaluru on Friday to take stock of the situation arising after the alleged attack on a girl student by a mob.
"The team is going to Bengaluru tomorrow (Friday), which includes the High Commissioner of Tanzania, who is also the Dean of the African Diplomatic Core, Joint Secretary (States), MEA Director East and Southern Africa and the regional director of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), which liaises with the students who come here on ITS scholarships," said Ministry of External Affairs official spokesman Vikas Swarup during a weekly press briefing here.
Swarup said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took a high-level meeting today, which was attended by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, Secretary (Economic Relations) Amar Sinha and other MEA senior official, to discuss the incident concerning the Tanzanian student in Bengaluru.
"We condemn the incident unequivocally. The EAM, in her tweet yesterday (on Wednesday), also said that "we are deeply pained over the shameful incident". She immediately spoke to the Karnataka Chief Minister and sought an official report," he said.
"We have now received the report from the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City, N. S. Megharikh. The Commissioner has assured us that stringent measures are being taken to prevent occurrence of such incidents in the future. In fact, the EAM has been informed by the Karnataka Chief Minister that a criminal case has been registered and five accused have been arrested," said Swarup.
"We will extend the full cooperation for both the state and the Central Governments to the investigation of this case," he added.
"The Ministry and the state government will also be reaching out to African students in the state to re-assure them that their security and wellbeing are our primary concerns," he said, adding that Secretary, ER, Amar Sinha spoke to the Tanzanian High Commissioner in this regard.
"We have assured our African friends that necessary legal action would be taken and stringent punishment will be given to those involved in the attack, and that we will take all steps to ensure safety and security of African students in India," he added.
