E&OE
27 November 2008
Press conference with Australian correspondents, Australian High Commission, London
Topics: Mumbai attacks, Thailand airport protests, AUKMIN
SMITH: Well, firstly an update on Mumbai. Late this afternoon I spoke to Indian External Affairs Minister, Mukherjee. I relayed to him, on behalf of the Government and the Australian people our deepest sympathy and condolences for the terrible attack on Indians and on India. We spoke about Australia's desire to stand shoulder to shoulder with India at this time. We offered any assistance that India may require.
I confirmed with Minister Mukherjee that we can confirm one Australian as being killed and that's a terrible tragedy for his family. We're gravely concerned about a second Australian who we fear may be dead. There are a small number of injuries but more importantly, both when I spoke to Minister Mukherjee and in the last quarter of an hour as I've spoken again to our High Commissioner, we're not in a position to confirm the safety or security of a number of Australians who we fear are either in the Taj Mahal Hotel or in the Oberoi Hotel. So we are very concerned about that.
Minister Mukherjee indicated that Indian authorities, through their police and military forces, were proposing to take steps to bring the situation to a conclusion and indicated that in the course of whatever action they undertook the safety and security of innocent Australians, innocent foreign and innocent bystanders would be uppermost in the minds of the Indian authorities taking these actions. So, a terrible situation. We very much send our condolences to India and also to the family members of the deceased Australian. We fear for another casualty and hope for the safety and security of those Australians who we fear remain in the hotels.
JOURNALIST: What gives you cause for concern about the Australian that you fear may also have been killed?
SMITH: We're not in a position to confirm the death but the information we have leaves us gravely concerned about the state of that Australian. That's as much information as I'm able to give.
JOURNALIST: Can you give a clear indication as to how many Australian are missing or involved in any of the hostage situations?
SMITH: Again, it's very difficult to be precise. In my conversation with Minister Mukherjee he indicated to me that the situation and events continue to unfold. It's very difficult to be precise. But we fear that as many as 25 or 26 Australians could be in the hotels. We do know that a number of Australians have got out of the hotels - a small number. So it is very difficult to be precise. The most distressing thing is that we are not in a position to vouchsafe for the safety and security of Australian nationals. That's a matter of very deep concern for us and we hope that as events unfold that those Australians will ultimately be shown to be safe and secure.
JOURNALIST: What sort of assistance did you offer to the Indian authorities? Did you offer, for example, soldiers, army or police officers? Was it accepted?
SMITH: No, it was because we've got what appears to be a sophisticated terrorist attack in a number of areas, and everyone will want to do the assessment as to where the attack has come from. We've indicated that we are willing to provide AFP - Australian Federal Police - assistance, so far as technical and forensic assistance is concerned. Minister Mukherjee indicated to me that they are very grateful to receive that indication of support or assistance, but for the present they believe that they have things in hand so far as seeking to bring the matter to a conclusion; but our offer is a standing offer, and the Indian Government understands that.
JOURNALIST: Do you think they do have things in hand?
SMITH: Well, they've been dealing with a terrible situation, a very difficult situation. We have confidence in the Indian authorities to try to bring the matter to a conclusion but what we're dealing with here - we're dealing with an outrageous, terrible terrorist attack on a range of sites in Mumbai including two hotels frequented by westerners or foreigners. So this is a very difficult situation, with suggestions of hostages being taken in the hotel. For any nation this would be a difficult situation, but we have confidence in the Indian authorities to do their best to bring the matter to a conclusion; and Minister Mukherjee was at pains to indicate that they understand that one of the things they need to and want to bear uppermost in mind as they proceed is the safety and security of what Minister Mukherjee described as the innocent victims in the hotel.
JOURNALIST: Did he give you any indication as to who is behind this and whether al-Qaeda was involved?
SMITH: No, we didn't have a discussion about that and I think it's very early to make those judgements. We know there has been a public claim of responsibility from the Decca Mujahadeen, it's not an organisation of which a great deal is known. I think it will take some considerable time to work carefully through that. What we do know, and what we are obviously very concerned about, is that this appears to have been something qualitatively different from what we've seen in India in recent times. We know in the course of this year there have been a series of violent acts from extremist or terrorist groups. These have been aimed primarily at India or Indians. On this occasion for the first time we've seen attacks on sites frequented predominantly by Westerners or foreigners. That is of concern. Having made that point, let me make this very clear point: this is an attack upon Indians and India. Make no mistake about that: this is an attack upon the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India, and that's why my first comment to Minister Mukherjee was to express our condolences and sympathies for the loss of Indian lives but also to indicate we stand side by side with India at what is a terribly difficult time for them.
JOURNALIST: In a statement in the past couple of hours David Miliband said that contact had been made with some of the Brits in those hotels. Obviously he wasn't prepared to say how, but have we been in touch with any Australians?
SMITH: We have been in contact with some Australians in the hotels, again it would not be sensible nor appropriate for me to go into the detail. We have been in contact with a number, but we don't believe we've been in contact with all Australians in the hotels.
JOURNALIST: What sort of stories are you hearing from them?
SMITH: Well you've seen the stories retailed in the media. I'm not proposing again to go into that detail, but we're dealing here with people in a terrible situation; and on the basis of the advice that I've got from officials and also from what I've seen and heard publicly, you've got a number of Australians conducting themselves in a very stoic and brave way in terribly difficult circumstances for them and their families.
JOURNALIST: Have any of those Australians reported injuries to themselves or any others around them?
SMITH: Not to my knowledge. The two or three injuries that we're aware of have been to people who have effectively reported in. I make this point though: our officials, who are doing a terrific job in very difficult circumstances - our High Commissioner, by coincidence, was in Mumbai at the time - but our officials are doing a very good job, our officials have on at least one occasion gone to all the hospitals in Mumbai to check on whether any Australians are there, and on my most recent advice, no Australians have been found in hospitals in Mumbai. Our officials on the ground in Mumbai are doing a very, very good job in extreme circumstances.
JOURNALIST: Is there anything to suggest as far as you're aware that we should expect some further attacks?
SMITH: Well, we are always wary of terrorist attacks, and one thing that we do know is that when attacks are successful that encourages further attacks. But our travel advisory for India for some time has drawn attention to the potential risk of terrorist attacks, and I make this point: this morning as a result of these successful attacks we increased the level of our travel advisory to India from ‘exercising caution' to ‘reviewing or reconsidering the need to travel', and you would have seen this morning that a number of public visits to India have been put on hold or cancelled as a consequence of the day's events.
JOURNALIST: There were reports earlier that the High Commissioner had been trying to get to the southern part of the city. Has he been able to do that?
SMITH: Well he's been trying, like other officials have, to get close to the vicinity of the hotels. He's had some success in getting reasonably close but as you'd expect a lot of the area is cordoned off. But he's doing a very good job in difficult circumstances - I've spoken to him on a number of occasions today, as has the Prime Minister.
JOURNALIST: Can you just tell us the situation in Bangkok, and how many Australians are involved, and what the Government's doing there?
SMITH: Well again I've spoken on a number of occasions to our Ambassador, I've spoken to him in the last quarter of an hour. In terms of developments, the Thai Government has declared emergency law over the two airports in Bangkok, the international airport and the domestic airport; our travel advisory for some time so far as Thailand is concerned has been to exercise caution; we've been advising Australians over the last couple of days to keep clear of demonstrations; we've been advising them today and over the last 24 or 36 hours to steer clear of the airport. Our officials have effectively swept the airport and my most recent advice is that there are no Australians at the airport. Australians in Thailand, in Bangkok, are advised to stay in their hotels. The Thai Tourist Authority has effectively put Australians who have been inconvenienced up in hotel rooms for last night and again for tonight; and our officials are doing everything they can both with the Thai authorities and also with the airlines to try and make arrangements for Australians to return to Australia. The difficulty of course is that the airport, the international airport, has been closed for 24, 36 hours. It may well be that the declaration of emergency law over the airport sees the airports cleared in the next day or so. But we're doing everything we can to look at possible arrangements for getting Australians back to Australia. We have very many Australians in Thailand at any point in time; there'd be a large number, hundreds of Australians, who've been inconvenienced. We're trying to do the best we can to resolve that inconvenience, but I'm much more concerned about their safety and security. They should stay in their hotel rooms and as best they can patiently await an improvement in their travel arrangements.
JOURNALIST: Does Qantas fly to Mumbai and are they still [inaudible]?
SMITH: Well, Qantas, I'm happy to stand corrected, my understanding is they do have flights there, but what arrangements they've made - I'm sorry, I'm happy to check for you and take it on notice.
JOURNALIST: Can you tell us about AUKMIN tomorrow?
SMITH: Well, Joel Fitzgibbon and I are here today and tomorrow for the Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Talks, or the AUKMIN talks as they're known, involving foreign affairs and defence ministers, so we're meeting tomorrow in Leeds with Foreign Secretary Miliband and Defence Secretary Hutton. This reflects the closeness of the relationship between Australia and the United Kingdom and underlines the importance of our strategic and security and defence co-operation and arrangements. We'll be talking about a range of important matters that go to our bilateral relationship and also important to the international community: Pakistan and Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran; no doubt we'll also touch upon this terrible issue [ie Mumbai] because in the last hour or so Foreign Secretary Miliband has confirmed one British citizen dead as a consequence of the attack in Mumbai. So it reflects the very important relationship we have with the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom remains at the front line of our international relationships and it reflects not just a couple of centuries of contact but also a very strong trade and investment relationship and also a very strong strategic and security relationship as well.
[Ends]
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