Make way for India: Aus PM

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday stressed the need to accept India as a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic (APEC) Summit given its rise as an economic and political power.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday stressed the need to accept India as a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic (APEC) Summit given its rise as an economic and political power.

Rudd told the 21 APEC Summit leaders here thatu00a0 "India is part and parcel of the Asia Pacific region. It is an incomplete entity in India's absence".

Rudd's comments came in the wake of his visit to New Delhi last week, during which he signed new bilateral agreements on science, defence and other areas of co-operation.

The Australian prime minister's statement signalled that Australia was keen to improve bilateral relations with India following ongoing incidents of attacks on Indians in some of its major cities.

In New Delhi Rudd rejected reports that the recent spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia was motivated by racism, insisting they were instead criminally motivated.

The issue was raised in meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil.

'Disgusted'

Saying that he was deeply "distressed and disgusted" by attacks on Indian students in Australia, who number 100,000, Rudd stopped short of apologising for the attacks, but said instead he took full responsibility for the proper application of Australian laws.

"It would be absolutely wrong for me to indicate there would be no such problem of violence against any foreign students in the future," he said.

"It would not be responsible. What I can say is that we will deploy every effort on behalf of the government to underpin the security of foreign students in Australia."

He rejected the notion that racially-motivated crime was increasing in Australia, which he described as a proudly multi-cultural nation.

All Smiles: Kevin Rudd and his wife Teresa at a reception during the APEC Summit in Singapore.

Free trade zone

Over the weekend APEC leaders in Singapore took a big step towards forging a free trade zone, with the US endorsing it and promising to keep its markets open.

Before jetting in to Singapore on Saturday night for the APEC summit, President Obama gave his endorsement to the move in a major foreign policy speech delivered earlier in Tokyo.

APEC leaders believe the development of such a zone could lift the lives of millions of people on both sides of the Pacific with freer trade.

"Asia is important to the US," Obama said, as APEC leaders discussed ways of sustaining a recovery after the worst global economic shock in more than six decades.

"This is where we engage in commerce and buy many of our goods. And this is where we can expect to export more of our own products and create jobs at home in the process."

Dressed in mandarin collars, the leaders and their wives were ferried to a gala entertainment function on Saturday night byu00a0 old-fashioned cycle rickshaws.

The creator of the show described it as a "no-brainer".

"I just want the delegates to be entertained after an exhausting week of meetings. Nothing avant garde or taxing on the brain just a joyful celebration of Singapore's culture."