Julia Gillard was her second trip to India whilst in Government; on 31 August 2009, Gillard, then–deputy prime minister, met in India with Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal for the purpose of discussing the Australian Government's response to the string of attacks on Indian people living in Australia and attending Australian educational institutions. Gillard maintained the close bonds between Australia and New Zealand throughout her tenure as prime minister. She had a close working relationship with her New Zealand counterpart, Prime Minister John Key, who was among the first international leaders to congratulate Gillard on gaining the premiership in June
Gillard Government his resignation as foreign minister on 22 February, citing a lack of support from Julia Gillard and character attacks launched by Simon Crean and "a number of other faceless men" as the catalyst for his resignation. Prime Minister Gillard called a leadership ballot for 27 February. In doing so, she attempted to see off a "two-stage" strategy by declaring she would return to the backbenches and renounce any future leadership bid, and asking Rudd to do the same. She also expanded upon the reasons for her original challenge of Rudd's leadership, saying that his government had entered a period of