Following Beijing’s tight immigration restrictions set in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, China has announced intentions to issue visas to Indian professionals and their families who have been trapped in India for more than two years.
Thousands of Indian students studying at Chinese institutions have shown an interest in returning to their colleges and universities, and China is currently considering their petitions.
As per the news sources, For hundreds of Indian professionals and their families who have been stranded at home till 2020, this is a huge relief. A group of Indian professionals in China petitioned External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar last month to encourage Beijing to enable their trapped relatives to return.
Apart from Indians, the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi stated that family members of Chinese nationals and foreigners with Chinese permanent residency permits who wish to visit relatives in China can apply for visas.
Besides Indians, some of whom have Chinese wives, Beijing’s sweeping visa bans and airline cancellations have stranded numerous Chinese professionals working for various enterprises in India. Visas for tourist and private purposes, however, are still suspended, according to the Chinese Embassy notice.
After months of negotiations with India, China agreed to allow the repatriation of “some” trapped Indian students in April and instructed the Indian Embassy in Washington to gather information on the students who wanted to return.
According to previous estimates, approximately 23,000 Indian students, largely studying medicine in Chinese colleges, are trapped in India after returning home in December 2019 when the coronavirus broke out in China. They were unable to return to China owing to the Chinese government’s restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of the virus.
According to reports, over 12,000 Indian students have indicated a desire to return, and their information has been given to the Chinese authorities for processing.
China has yet to come up with a criterion for allowing students to return, since Beijing is hesitant to allow such a big number of individuals to return at once, given the country’s recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
China has failed to declare intentions to expand aviation facilities between the two nations, despite extending visa services to Indians. Only ambassadors between the two nations now fly through the costly third-country routes.
However, China’s issuance of visas has given hope that flying services between the two nations may be restored shortly. China has lately allowed students from friendly nations such as Pakistan, Thailand, the Solomon Islands and, most recently, Sri Lanka to return.
