China to permit 'some' Indian students to return: Chinese Foreign Ministry

Beijing has said it was willing to facilitate the return of Indian students to its universities, in what could act as a confidence building measure in bilateral ties that has suffered since Chinese incursions in eastern Ladakh. The Indian embassy announcement in China on Friday followed a meeting between foreign ministers Wang Yi and S Jaishankar in New Delhi on March 25, the first one over two years.

Indian students forced to leave China following the outbreak of Covid-19 will be allowed to return to China to complete their studies, the embassy said. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman n Zhao Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing, “China attaches high importance to Indian students' concerns about returning to China for studies.

We have shared with the Indian sides procedures and experience of students from other countries returning to China. Actually, the work for Indian students' return has already 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.


To another question whether China has provided any criteria to India to select students to return, Zhao said: “I don't have information about the specifics you asked, but I am sure these details will be sorted out through communication through existing channels including the embassy so that we will actually deliver the good news.”

Thousands of Indian students who studied in China were left in a lurch following disruption in their academic career. However, people familiar with the matter said this is not an open-ended process and there is no guarantee that all students will be able to return as there were some conditions attached to the process.