Union minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan on Friday told the Lok Sabha that the Indian government is in talks with the Chinese government to facilitate the return of Indian students to their respective universities and colleges in China.
Muraleedharan said that the issue was taken up with Chinese authorities in New Delhi as well as through the Indian embassy in China.
The minister said that the students are being regularly updated in this regard.
He also said that Union minister of external affairs S Jaishankar raised the issue with his counterpart Wang Yi when the latter visited New Delhi in March this year.
Jaishankar told Yi that such restrictive policies put in jeopardy the careers of Indian students studying there.
He said that in the recently concluded G20 foreign ministers’ summit in Bali, Indonesia the topic was discussed once more.
“The Chinese government expressed its willingness to consider facilitating the return of a limited number of Indian students on a trial basis depending upon need,” Muraleedharan said in reply to questions raised by Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) leaders G. Ranjith Reddy, Venkatesh Netha Borlakunta, Kavitha Malothu and Dayakar Pasunoori during the monsoon session of the parliament.
Muraleedharan also said that the Indian embassy in Beijing in a press release towards the end of April sought details of students who intend to return to China to continue their studies.
He said a list of students willing to return to China was provided to the Chinese side for their consideration.
He also asked students to continue checking the Indian embassy website for any updates and also to stay in touch with the authorities of their respective universities.
Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Thursday that both governments have made progress on this issue.
“As for the return of Indian students, as we have said before, the relevant departments in China and India have been in contact and made progress on this,” Wenbin replied when asked about the 23,000 Indian students who are supposed to return to China to rejoin their courses.
Chinese premier Li Keqiang in a meeting with business leaders on Tuesday said steps are being taken to reopen China to international travelers.
Muraleedharan also said that the external affairs ministry is in touch with other nations regarding the continuation of medical education of Indian students who have returned from Ukraine.
Around 20,000 medical students from India returned from Ukraine after their colleges were closed due to the war.
Muraleedharan pointed out that the Union ministry of health and family welfare is the nodal ministry for medical education.
“This issue will also need to be seen in the context of existing guidelines of the National Medical Commission on migration between Universities in different countries,” the minister said.
(with inputs from Shalinder Wangu)
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