Sushma Swaraj assures safety of Indians in US

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday India has raised the recent incidents of violence with India citizens in US at the highest level and assured that the government will ensure safety of diaspora.

The minister was making a statement in Lok Sabha, where she made an appearance for the first time after kidney transplant surgery.

The minister assured the house that the government was giving highest priority to the safety of Indian diaspora.

"I want to reassure that safety of our diaspora is our foremost priority. We are constantly talking to the US officials. Embassies are constantly in touch with the diaspora," Sushma Swaraj said.

The minister's response came a week after Lok Sabha members raised concern over hate crimes against Indians in US.

The members were voicing concern over the killing of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas on February 22 in an apparent hate crime, and of another Indian Harnish Patel a week later.

A Sikh man, Deep Rai, who was an American citizen, was fired at in a racial attack last week, and is out of danger.

Sushma Swaraj told the House that probe is on in the US to ascertain if the incidents involving Patel and Rai were also hate crimes.

"Government in all three cases contacted them to provide immediate help," the minister said.

She also said that these incidents did not reflect the sentiment of all Americans as the incidents have been widely condemned in the US.