Beijing [China], July 22 (HornbillTV/ANI): China on Thursday said that the country has made progress in regards to facilitating the return of Indian students and is working in tandem with relevant departments to see that the first batch of Indian students can come back to study in China at the earliest.

The Indian students pursuing medicine from Chinese Universities are unable to return to China to attend classes due to COVID-19-induced restrictions.

“We have been working intensively for the return of foreign students to China, as you can see. Some foreign students have already returned to China to continue their studies. As for the return of Indian students, as we have said before, the relevant departments in China and India have been in contact and made progress on this. The responsible departments in both countries will stay in close communication and work for the early return of the first batch of Indian students,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

He made these remarks at a routine press conference on Thursday when asked about the progress of Indian students returning to China for study.

In a similar gesture, on Tuesday, when attending the World Economic Forum Special Virtual Dialogue with Global Business Leaders, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also promised to relax restrictions on international travel, including facilitating people-to-people exchanges, reported Global Times.

Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting stressed the need for expediting the process of return of Indian students to China to attend classes on an early date.

In order to facilitate the return of Indian students, Jaishankar met with Wang Yi on March 25.

Jaishankar in March had said he strongly took up with the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi the predicament of Indian students studying in China who haven’t been allowed to return to that country citing COVID-19 restrictions.

The External Minister hoped that China will take a non-discriminatory approach on the issue since it involves the future of many young people.

“I also took up strongly the predicament of Indian students studying in China who haven’t been allowed to return citing COVID restrictions. We hope China will take a non-discriminatory approach since it involves the future of many young people,” he had said.

Jaishankar said the Chinese Foreign Minister had assured him that he would speak to relevant authorities on his return to China.

“Minister Wang Yi assured me that he would speak to the relevant authorities on his return on this matter. He also recognised the particular concerns that medical students have in this difficult situation,” Jaishankar added.

Earlier in April, the Chinese side had expressed its willingness to consider facilitating the return of Indian students to China on a need-assessed basis, said the Indian Embassy in China.