Two years on, 23,000 Indian students awaiting their return to China still in limbo

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New
Delhi,
Feb
09:
China
yet
again
remains
non-committal
on
the
return
of
Indian
students
to
their
universities
despite
announcing
a
few
days
ago
that
Beijing
will
facilitate
the
return
of
international
students
to
China
from
Mongolia,
Singapore,
and
Pakistan
to
resume
their
classes.

China
made
these
announcements
after
talks
with
the
leaders
from
Mongolia,
Singapore,
and
Pakistan
who
came
to
Beijing
to
attend
the
Winter
Olympics
2022.

Without
giving
any
timeline
or
any
reason
for
not
allowing
Indian
students
to
return,
Chinese
Foreign
Ministry
Spokesperson
Zhao
Lijian
in
Beijing
repeated
China’s
year-old
reply
and
said
that
under
the
impact
of
COVID-19,
China
is
“ready
to
coordinate
efforts”
for
the
return
of
foreign
students
to
resume
their
studies
in
China.

China
has
closed
its
border
since
the
beginning
of
the
pandemic
in
2020
but
relaxed
it
last
year
in
March
for
certain
categories
which
did
not
include
students.

Around
23,000
Indian
students
have
been
waiting
for
their
return
to
their
universities
for
the
last
two
years.

The
Indian
Embassy
in
Beijing
has
been
continuously
taking
up
the
matter
with
Chinese
authorities
but
to
no
avail.

Earlier,
China
has
allowed
students
from
South
Korea
and
the
United
States.
Last
year,
China
had
strongly
reacted
when
the
US
denied
visas
to
a
few
Chinese
students
but
on
the
issue
of
return
of
foreign
students
to
China,
it
maintains
a
deafening
silence
as
it
is
not
able
to
give
any
reason.

Experts
say,
apparently
now,
China
has
included
the
matter
of
the
return
of
international
students
as
part
of
its
negotiations
with
foreign
governments
as
evident
from
the
recent
announcements
in
the
case
of
Mongolia,
Singapore,
and
Pakistan
rather
than
keeping
it
a
matter
solely
related
to
student’s
career
and
future.

Last
year,
China
made
similar
announcements
for
Indonesia
and
Malaysia.