As the world begins to resume after Covid-19 wave, India gave a thought to the return of stranded Indian students to China for on-campus learning.
However, the Chinese foreign ministry has declined to commit when it will take up this issue. It is not yet clear when will Beijing allow the stranded Indian students back in China. This comes days after China offered to arrange for Pakistani students to return to resume on-campus learning.
As per the foreign ministry, it was considering the return of thousands of international students stranded abroad to China in a “coordinated manner” but declined to elaborate when it was planning to do so.
“We are considering in a coordinated manner arrangement for allowing foreign students to return to China for their studies,” ministry spokesperson, said Zhao Lijian.
It is noteworthy that the Covid-19 pandemic situation is now almost under control in China. Besides, the Winter Olympics are also going on amid tight safety bubbles.
So far, China has not allowed the return of students to campus citing safety concerns.
According to a joint statement released by China and Pakistan, all-weather strategic allies said that China will arrange for Pakistani students to return but did not give a timeline.
The statement was issued after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Indian students in China
Meanwhile, China is also making similar arrangements for the return of students from Singapore, Mongolia and Sri Lanka.
International students from India and other countries have repeatedly petitioned the Chinese government to lift the two-year ban on their return.
This could be due to the ongoing military tensions in eastern Ladakh. But gap in on-campus learning should not suffer at the hands of diplomatic failures.
Moreover, several Indian medical students have lost out on physically completing the final year of their medical course when they are mandatorily attached to hospitals for practical training.
Besides, more than 23,000 Indian students study in China, the majority enrolled in medical universities.
After the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, they have been left stranded in their home country.
ALSO READ | Australia Announces Reopening Of Borders To Fully Vaccinated Tourists From This Date
