China announces plans to grant visas to Indian professionals and their families stranded in India India More than two years after Beijing imposed strict visa restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Separately, China is also processing requests from thousands of Indian students studying in Chinese universities who have expressed their interest to rejoin their colleges and universities.
On Monday, the Chinese embassy in India allowed its COVID-19 response after more than two years to accept visa applications of foreign nationals and their accompanying family members wishing to visit China to resume work in all sectors. Updated visa policy. This is a big relief to the hundreds of Indian professionals and their families who have returned home since 2020.
Last month, several Indian professionals based in China urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to put pressure on Beijing to allow their stranded families to return. Apart from Indians, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi said family members of Chinese nationals and foreigners with Chinese permanent residence permits visiting China for family reunification or visiting relatives can apply for visas.
Apart from Indians, some of whom have Chinese husbands, several Chinese employees working for various companies were also stranded in India due to Beijing’s blanket visa restrictions and flight cancellations. However, visas for tourism and private purposes remain suspended, the Chinese embassy announcement said.
In April, after prolonged representation from India, China agreed to allow the return of some “stranded Indian students” and asked the Indian embassy here to collect details of students wishing to return. According to earlier reports, more than 23,000 Indian students, mostly studying medicine in Chinese colleges, are stuck in India after their return to India. coronavirus Broke up in China in December 2019. They could not return to China due to restrictions imposed by the Chinese government to prevent the spread of the contagion.
More than 12,000 Indian students have reportedly expressed their desire to return and their details have been sent to the Chinese government for processing. China is yet to come up with a criterion to allow the return of students as Beijing is reluctant to allow such a large number of people to return at once in view of the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.
Opening up visa services for Indians, China is yet to announce plans to open flight facilities between the two countries. Currently, only diplomats travel between the two countries on expensive third country flight routes.
However, China’s visa announcement has raised hopes that flight services between the two countries may also resume soon. In recent months, China has been allowing students from some friendly countries such as Pakistan, Thailand, the Solomon Islands and more recently Sri Lanka to return.
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