MUMBAI: NCP MP Supriya Sule has sought Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya's help for Indian students studying medicine in China, who have demanded that their return to the neighbouring country be facilitated to resume offline courses and arrangements for practical classes be made in India till then.
In a letter to Mandaviya, Sule said the students are attending their lectures online in India and are anxious due to uncertainties surrounding reopening of the Chinese border and lifting of the travel restrictions. A large number of Indian students had come back to India when China shut all universities following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
China had restricted travel by suspending visa and residence permits from March 27, 2020 in view of the pandemic. "I met the delegation of Indian Students in China and the Foreign Medical Graduates Parents Association (FMGPA). They have put forth a few demands...requesting you to kindly look into the matter and help our students," Sule said in the April 13 letter, a copy of which she shared on Twitter on Wednesday.
In their letter to the Baramati MP, the students and the FMGPA said they are facing financial and mental stress due to uncertainties surrounding the reopening of the Chinese border and lifting of the travel restrictions.
The students have demanded that arrangements be made for their return to China or practical classes be provided to them, in line with their curriculum, in India until they go back to China. "Please keep up with the perpetual efforts to facilitate the students' early return to their respective Chinese universities," the students demanded in the letter to Sule.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had on March 25 raised with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi the issue of return of Indian students to China to resume their studies, and expressed hope that Beijing will adopt a "non-discriminatory approach" on it.