The Indian Embassy in China has announced that Indian students who were asked to leave China due to the COVID-19 outbreak will be allowed to return to complete their education but only conditionally.
About 22,000 students are enrolled in Chinese universities, most of them medical students, and all these students left their universities in 2020 when the first SARS-CoV-2 cases emerged and spread across the country. These students returned to India and were so far unaware about when they could return to finish their studies as China stopped issuing visas for the country.
The decision to restart visas will come as a relief to the students but there is a possibility that not all of them will be able to return to the country.
In a press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told media in Beijing that China attaches high importance to Indian students' concerns about returning to China for studies. "We have shared with the Indian side the procedures and experience of other countries' students returning to China." This means that China intends to screen the applicants willing to return to the country,
The Chinese government has stated that students will be expected to apply through a Google form latest by May 8, 2022.
After collating the list of all the eligible students, the Indian embassy will send this list to the Chinese government for their consideration. While China is still unsure about allowing students to return, the Indian embassy said that the meeting of External Affairs Minister of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar with the State Councilor and Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Wang Yi on 25 March 2022, facilitated this decision.
With cases increasing again and several Chinese cities and districts witnessing stringent lockdowns, the Chinese government will look at all the applications and send them to the concerned departments for verification. This process will also act as a needs-assessment and help ascertain whether there is a need for these students to return to China. It is not clear as to what the Chinese government will include in the needs assessment.
"We understand that there are a large number of Indian students studying in China. India may need some time to collect the names. China is ready to receive some 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, evolving circumstances, and their majors. This principle applies equally to all foreign students," Zhao said in the briefing.
However, if the students are allowed to return to the country, they will have to bear the expenses for all the COVID-19 preventive measures that they have to follow. The Chinese government and the universities will not incur the COVID-18 costs for the students to return.
China has seen a surge in cases even after vaccinating a large proportion of its population. The cases are similar to what the country had experienced in Wuhan. The students returned home then and several students were detected positive on arrival.