The return of the first batch of Pakistani students to China on Monday after easing of Covid restrictions is good news for Indian students waiting to do the same.
Around 90 students from Pakistan flew to the city of Xian from Islamabad on a special flight on Monday after Beijing green-lit their return to resume studying on Chinese campuses.
The students were stranded in Pakistan after leaving China in early 2020 soon after the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, like their counterparts in India, who are also waiting to return after leaving the country more than two years ago.
The Pakistani students will undergo a 14-day quarantine in Xian as per Covid-19 control and prevention measures imposed by the local government for passengers arriving from abroad, according to a report by the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
Once the quarantine period is over, and only if the students test negative for Covid-19, they will be allowed to return to their universities in different cities in China, the report said.
Beijing is said to have agreed to the return of 250 Pakistani students to resume in-campus learning, though around 6,000 have said they want to come back.
A phone conversation between Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Premier Li Keqiang last month, during which they reaffirmed the close ties between the “iron brothers”, is said to have hastened the process of the students’ return.
The number of Indian students who have registered with the Indian authorities to return, however, is much larger at 12,000. China is said to be processing their requests.
In April, after frequent representations from New Delhi and worried students, China agreed to permit the return of “some” stranded Indian students and asked the Indian embassy to collect the details of the students wanting to return.
“China is ready to receive some of Indian students under the current complicated severe epidemic situation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said in late April, emphasising that their return will depend on the “international epidemic situation, the evolving circumstances, and their majors”.
“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 Indian students under the current complicated severe epidemic situation,” he said.
More than 23,000 Indian students, mostly studying medicine in Chinese colleges, are stuck in India, and as of now, more than half want to return. They have so far been unable to return to China due to the restrictions imposed by the Chinese government in order to contain the Covid pandemic.
The Indian embassy in Beijing is waiting to hear back from the Chinese foreign ministry on the issue.
It’s not yet known whether the Indian students will return to China on special flights when Beijing agrees to accept them.
In April, the Sri Lankan embassy in Beijing also announced that Beijing was willing to facilitate the return of Lankan students.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has informed that the Chinese embassy in Colombo has finalised two (02) groups of students to return to China. Additional students are being processed to return to China,” the Sri Lankan embassy had said in a statement.
Earlier this month, China also announced plans to provide visas to Indian professionals and their families stranded in India for over two years.
The Chinese Embassy in India updated its Covid-19 visa policy to accept applications from foreign nationals and their family members wanting to go to China to resume work or reunite with relatives.
In February, the Chinese foreign ministry had said that the return of stranded Indian students was not a “political” matter and they will not be “discriminated” against when the ban is lifted on foreign students from returning to China.
