China to permit ‘some’ Indian students to return

In a relief to thousands of Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities, China recently announced that it will allow ‘some’ Indian students to return to China and continue their education, after more than two years since the onset of the COVID-19 induced  lockdown.

“We understand that there is a large number of Indian students studying in China. India may need some time to collect the names. China is ready to receive some Indian students under the current, complicated, severe epidemic situation. In handling foreign students returning to China for studies, we need to take into consideration the international epidemic situation, evolving circumstances, and their majors. This principle applies equally to all foreign students,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing.

“Actually, the work for Indian students’ return has already started. All that remains to be done is for the Indian side to provide the list of students who really need to come back to China,” he said.

“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,” it said. This coordination process would be carried out in a time-bound manner, it said.

According to the official data of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), over 23,000 Indian students are studying in China and of this, around 21,000 are pursuing medicine — as of 2019.