China to Take Back Indian Students on “Need-Assessed Basis”

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, April 29: With China after over two Years agreeing to take back the Indian students studying in China, the union government on Friday issued a notification asking students of China stuck back home to immediately register their names to be shared with China for necessary permissions for their return.

Taking the first step to facilitate their return, the centre has asked the students interested in joining in-person classes in their colleges in China to register their names by May 8 so that it could share the list with the “Chinese side for their consideration.”

The call for registration came after, the government said, China expressed its willingness to consider facilitating the return of Indian students “on need-assessed basis.” The notification was issued soon after China on Friday announced plans to permit the return of “some” Indian students stranded in India for over two years following the visa and flight restrictions imposed by Beijing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing that “China attaches high importance to Indian students’ concerns about returning to China for studies. We have shared with the Indian sides the procedures and experience of other countries’ students returning to China.” “Actually, the work for Indian students’ return has already been started. All that remains to be done is for the Indian side to provide the list of students who really need to come back to China,” he said.

According to reports, over 23,000 Indian students, mostly studying medicine in Chinese colleges, are stuck in India after they returned home as the coronavirus broke out in China in December 2019. They could not return to China due to the restrictions imposed by the Chinese government to arrest the spread of the contagion. They are worried that their medical degrees may become invalid if online classes continue due to lack of practical experience.

Since then, they made desperate attempts to return to China to re-join their classes but had to confine to online classes as Beijing cancelled all flights and visas for Indians. “We understand that there is a large number of Indian students studying in China. India may need some time to collect the names.

“China is ready to receive some of Indian students under the current complicated severe epidemic situation. In handling, foreign students returning to China for studies, we need to take into consideration the international epidemic situation, the evolving circumstances, and their majors. This principle applies equally to all foreign students,” Zhao said.

Asked about the timeline to permit the return of Indian students, Zhao said the Chinese embassy in India and existing channels will work to facilitate and offer convenience to the students. To another question whether China has provided any criteria to India to select students to return, Zhao said: “I don’t have the information about the specifics you asked but I am sure these details will be sorted out through communication through existing channels including the embassy.”

Soon after the Chinese announcement, the Indian Embassy in Beijing sought the details of the students intending to return. “Following the meeting of External Affairs Minister of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar with the State Councillor and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Wang Yi on 25 March 2022, the Chinese side has expressed its willingness to consider facilitating the return of Indian students to China on a need-assessed basis,” the Indian Embassy in Beijing said in a statement.

“In order to facilitate this (return), the Indian Embassy intends to prepare a list of such students which will be shared with the Chinese side for their consideration. Therefore, Indian students are requested to provide necessary information by filling up the Google Form latest by 08 May 2022,” it said.

“Once the collated information is shared with the Chinese side, they would consult relevant Chinese departments to verify the list and indicate whether the identified students can travel to China to complete the course,” the statement said. This coordination process would be carried out in a time-bound manner, it said.

The Chinese side has also conveyed that eligible students should unconditionally abide by the COVID-19 prevention measures, and agree to bear all expenses related to COVID-19 prevention measures by themselves, it said.

Besides the students, hundreds of families of Indians working in China too were stuck back home in view of China cancelling visas and flights from India. In recent months, China has been permitting students from some friendly countries like Pakistan, Thailand, Solomon Islands and recently Sri Lanka to return but remained silent about allowing Indian students as well as hundreds of family members of Indians working in China to travel back.

China’s decision to allow return of Indian students came a little over a month after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar raised the issue of the return of Indian students to China with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Jaishankar had told reporters that India hoped that Beijing would adopt a “non-discriminatory approach” on it.

“Minister Wang Yi had assured me that he would speak to the relevant authorities on his return on this matter. He also recognised the particular concerns that medical students have in this difficult situation,” Jaishankar had said.