Cairns (Australia), Aug 7 - In a damage control exercise, Australia is planning three high-profile visits, including by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to India over the next few months and said it is taking all steps to ensure the safety of Indian students.

'Three high-profile visits by Australian leaders are being planned that include Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith,' India's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said here.

'We are looking forward to these three high-profile meetings that will be held in India,' Krishna, who is on a five-day visit to Australia and held talks with Rudd for 20 minutes, said.

Gillard, also education minister, may come to India as soon as August-end, sources said. Rudd is expected in New Delhi November, sources said.

Rudd had to defer two planned trips to India, once due to Indian elections and then because Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was recovering from a bypass surgery early this year.

'We do have currently scheduled plans to visit India later in the year, I can't give you precise dates,' Rudd was quoted as saying by The Australian Friday.

'I look forward to visiting India.'

'It's an important relationship for Australia and like most of our relationships around the world has some bumps in the road from time to time... but we can work our way through them,' Rudd said.

Krishna is in Cairns to participate in the Annual Post Forum Dialogue Meeting of the 16-nation Pacific Island Forum (PIF), at which India is a dialogue partner. The forum focussed on issues like climate change and the situation in Fiji.

Rudd assured Krishna during their meeting that the Australian government was taking all steps to ensure the safety and security of Indian students in Australia.