India has taken up matter of Indian students' return to China for their studies: Govt
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New Delhi: The government on Thursday said it has been taking up the matter of the return of Indian students to China, who had to come back home when all universities in the country had closed down following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, said the Centre is in touch with the Chinese authorities both in New Delhi and through the Embassy in China regarding the matter.
This comes amid reports of China's silence on the return of over 23,000 Indian students pursuing their studies in various universities. Meanwhile, there were also reports that Beijing is permitting foreign students of several countries to re-join their studies.
He said China had restricted travel by suspending visa and residence permits from March 27, 2020, in view of the pandemic. "As per information available, approximately 20,000 Indian students were enrolled in various courses including clinical medicine courses in different Chinese universities at that time," he said.
"A large number of them returned to India when all universities in China had closed down," he added. Muraleedharan said the universities in China have not reopened fully as of date.
"The government has been taking up the matter of the return of Indian students with the Chinese authorities both in New Delhi and through our Embassy in China. Regular updates have been given in this regard by the Embassy to the Indian students," Muraleedharan said.
He said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had taken up the matter with the National Medical Commission and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to explore options to address the concerns of the affected students.
The minister said the commission has issued a circular on March 4 stating that in view of a large number of Indian medical students in foreign institutions who have not been able to complete internships, it has decided to accept applications from such foreign medical graduates to complete the remaining part of an internship in India.
Muraleedharan said the Chinese government has advised Chinese universities to maintain contact with foreign students and continue classes online.