Over 1,300 Indian students get Chinese visas after two-year Covid pause

Over 1,300 Indian students have received visas to return to China to resume their studies after being unable to do so for over two years owing to strict Covid-19 travel restrictions imposed by the country in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

Chinese director-general of the department of Asian affairs of the ministry of foreign affairs Liu Jinsong met with Indian ambassador to China Luo Guodong and informed him of the progress.

“More than 1,300 Indian students have obtained visas to come to China, and nearly 300 businessmen in two batches took a chartered flight of China Airlines to Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province,” Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

Thousands of Indian students studying in Chinese medical colleges are currently stuck at home. Over 23,000 Indian students are currently enrolled in various Chinese universities, a vast majority of them being medical students.

India has been urging China for a long time to allow the return of the students. In talks held with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in July, foreign minister S Jaishankar had reiterated the return of Indian students to China stressing on the need to expedite the process.

Earlier, S Jaishankar had also urged China on the matter when Wang Yi visited New Delhi in March.