India is 'broadly satisfied' with the 'earnestness' of Australian authorities to tackle its concerns over the safety of Indian students, according to the spokesperson.

Krishna added in his statement that India attached importance to its relations with Australia and was 'committed to further strengthening and expanding our relations to cover virtually every area of interaction'.

'Both sides feel that significant further scope exists, for expanding our trade as well as cooperation in areas such as science and technology, information and communication technology, energy, education, tourism and agro-industry,' he said.

Saying that India and Australia are looking to take their relations to a 'strategic partnership', Krishna said they were 'looking at the possibility of discussing a Free Trade Agreement which would further boost our ties'.

Krishna said that India was looking forward to the visit of Prime Minister Rudd and Foreign Minister Smith later this year.