Indian students now allowed to return to China to finish their studies

|HT|

Indian students forced to leave China following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic two years ago are now allowed to return to the country and finish their studies, the Indian Embassy in China has said. The decision comes following the meeting of external affairs minister S Jaishankar with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on March 22. This brings relief to thousands of Indian students left in a lurch for the disruption in their academic career. However, people familiar with the matter said this is not an open-ended process and there is no guarantee that all students will be able to return to their courses as there are some conditions attached to the process. The return of the students will be facilitated on a need-assessed basis and for that, the embassy will be preparing a list of such students who need to return to their college, and universities immediately. The list will then be shared with the Chinese side for their consideration. To kickstart the process, the embassy has now asked the Indian students to fill out a google form by May 8. "Once the collated information is shared with the Chinese side, they would consult relevant Chinese departments to verify the list and indicate whether the identified students can travel to China to complete the course. The coordination process would be carried out in a time-bound manner," the embassy said in a statement.

"The Chinese side has also conveyed that eligible students should unconditionally abide by the Covid-10 prevention measures and agree to bear all expenses related to Covid-19 prevention measures by themselves," the statement added.

The ministry of external afairs expressed concern over the future of such students on Thursday and said Indian officials were engaged with Chinese officials regarding this issue. External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a weekly media briefing that the Indian side was concerned about the plight of the students, especially at a time when there were reports of students from other countries being allowed back into China.

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