Representational photo.
New Delhi: The Union government informed that at least 633 Indian students died in foreign countries during the last five years. The Ministry of External Affairs said so while giving a written reply to queries raised in Lok Sabha during the ongoing monsoon session, The Indian Express reported.
According to the ministry’s reply, the deaths were due to several reasons, including natural causes, accidents and medical emergencies. With 172 deaths, Canada tops with the most deaths, while the United States recorded 108 deaths. This was followed by the UK with 58 deaths, Australia with 57, Russia with 37 and Germany with 24. One death was reported from Pakistan, too, MEA said.
Further, the ministry informed that data available suggests that there was no increase in violent attacks on Indian students abroad in recent times. Nineteen deaths were reported out of violent attacks in the said period, with Canada reporting the most, nine. The US reported six, and one each was reported in Australia, the UK, China and Kyrgyzstan.
The ministry said that India encourages students abroad to register themselves with the MADAD Portal. This would help to address the grievances and issues they face in foreign lands.
The ministry later informed us that the total number of Indian students studying abroad and pursuing higher education in universities and other tertiary institutions is 1.33 million across 101 foreign nations, as per 2024 statistics. The number of Indian students opting to study abroad has increased in the last three years. When the stat stood at 0.75 million in 2022, it rose to 0.93 million last year before it reached 1.33 million this year.
The dividends of the 1.33 million goes like this: 4.27 lakh students (the highest) are studying in Canada and 3.37 lakh in the US. Then, the ministry informed us that there were 1.85 lakhs in the UK, 1.22 lakhs in Australia, 42997 in Germany, 25000 in UAE, and 24940 in Russia.