Indian students forced to leave China following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic two years ago are now allowed to return. The decision comes following the meeting of external affairs minister S Jaishankar with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. This brings relief to thousands of Indian students left in a lurch for the disruption in their academic career. People familiar with the matter said this is not an open-ended process and there is no guarantee that all students will be able to return to their courses.

The Indian embassy in Beijing has asked all Indian students studying in China to return to their colleges and universities immediately. The return of the students will be on a need-assessed basis and for that, the embassy will be preparing a list of such students who need to return. The list will then be shared with the Chinese side for their consideration.

“Once the collated information is shared, the Chinese side will consult relevant Chinese departments to verify the list and indicate whether the identified students can travel to China to complete the course,” the embassy said.

The Chinese government has said eligible students in China will be required to take part in the Covid-19 prevention measures and agree to bear all expenses related to those measures by themselves. “The Chinese side has also conveyed that eligible students should unconditionally abide by the Covid-10 prevention measures,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said.