China assures India of early return of Indian students to their land

China has promised India that it will work for the early return of more than 23,000 Indian students stranded in India due to Beijing's rigid Covid 19 visa ban.

Many Indian students who are enrolled in Chinese universities are stuck in India and unable to go back to China due to Beijing's rigid COVID-19 visa ban. Even though they are attending classes in an online mode, the medical students are being anxious, especially after the recent notification of NMC that to practice medicine in India, medical students must have attended the practical classes. Now, China has promised India that it will work for the early return of more than 23,000 Indian students to their land.

China has also promised that it will not discriminate against these students as their resumption of studies is not a "political issue". Most of these students are medical students.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has informed the Indian Embassy "they are cognizant of the welfare of all foreign students, including Indian students".

Indian Embassy's press release in this regard reads, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of China has assured the Embassy that they are cognizant of the welfare of all foreign students, including Indian students, and have also conveyed that they will work on their early return to China in a coordinated manner and will continue contact with the Embassy on this matter."

"Chinese MFA also conveyed that the return of Indian students was not a political issue and they will not be discriminated in any manner while deciding on the return of foreign students to China to resume their education," added the release.

In the last two years, MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs ) in China has made such vague assurances whenever the Indian media questioned the delay in the return of the Indian students. China had made similar promises to Pakistan, Mongolia and Singapore.

The press release of the Indian Embassy also says, "The Embassy will continue to work with the Chinese side on the issue of movement of people between the two countries. All Indian nationals who are intending to travel to China are advised to remain in touch with the Chinese Embassy in Delhi and Consulates in Mumbai and Kolkata for further information. Indian Embassy and Consulates will also immediately put out further information on this issue, when shared by the Chinese side, on their website and various social media handles."

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