The Chinese official said both countries are in contact with the students to re-join their colleges.
Beijing:
China said on Thursday that “progress” has been made in facilitating the return of thousands of Indian students stranded home due to Covid visa bans in Beijing and that efforts have been made for an “early return” of the first batch.
Prime Minister Li Keqiang promised during a virtual address to Global Business Leaders on Tuesday to ease restrictions on international travel in an orderly manner, including facilitating the return of thousands of stranded foreign students to re-join Chinese colleges.
All international students can return to China to continue their studies if they wish, and outbound trade and trade activities and cross-border travel for labor services will be promoted in an orderly manner, Li said.
When asked when China will allow more than 23,000 Indian students to return to their colleges in light of Li’s commitments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here on Thursday: “We have worked intensively on the return of foreign students to China”.
“Some foreign students have already returned to China to continue their studies,” he said.
“As for the return of Indian students, as we have said before, the relevant departments in China and India have been in touch and making progress,” he said without providing the details.
“The responsible departments in both countries will communicate closely and work towards the early return of the first batch of Indian students,” he said.
China is currently processing the list of hundreds of Indian students who want to return to the country to rejoin their colleges.
More than 23,000 Indian students mainly studying medicine are reportedly stuck at home due to COVID visa restrictions. India submitted a list of hundreds of students after China sought the names of those who wanted to return immediately to continue their studies.
Several stranded students from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Russia and several other countries arrived on charter flights in recent weeks.
China also allows flights from several countries, but not from India yet. The two countries are reportedly in talks to restore limited flights between the two countries.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
