New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday urged Australia to ease the Covid-19 travel restrictions for thousands of students who have been unable to enter the country since the pandemic began.
The foreign minister said he took up the issue “in some detail” with his Australian counterpart, Maris Payne.
“We have heard a lot from the students and I think their frustration, their feelings are completely understandable,” he told reporters.
Describing the students as a “very high priority” for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, Jaishankar said “many of them would like to stay in institutions where they want to study”.
“We are facing some problems with some other countries as well. We had with the US in the beginning, we still have some issues with Canada,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference with Jaishankar, Payne said he is “one of the most ardent supporters of welcoming our much-loved Indian students into the Australian education system as soon as possible”.
The Australian Foreign Minister further said that there are currently around 60,000 Indians studying in his country.
“The Covid restrictions have affected travel from Australia to Australia, not only for the students you have taken,” Payne said.
“I look forward to being one of the people at the airport to welcome the first arrivals of Indian students coming back,” he said, underlining that the high vaccination levels of Australians “we need to be a way to start again.” needed to give confidence”. will enable the students to return.
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