Indian professionals in China urge Jaishankar to press Chinese govt. to permit return of their families

“The work for Indian students’ return has already been started.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian

As China finally consented to permit “some” Indian students to return to re-join studies after over two years of delay, a number of Indian professionals whose families are stuck back home due to Beijing’s stringent COVID-19 visa rules have appealed to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to take up their plight with the Chinese Government.

Many Indian professionals working in China for a long period ranging from five to 27 years sent a joint petition to Mr. Jaishankar on May 1, highlighting their anguish.

“We have been separated from our respective families including kids for more than 26 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel and visa disruptions," these professionals, who are based in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities, said in the petition submitted to the Indian Embassy.

Among the petitioners are parents who have not seen their newborn babies for over two years besides others whose children were studying in China and could not return to re-join the schools due to the cancellation of visas and flights, disrupting their studies.

The families of dozens of Indian professionals left China in 2020 soon after coronavirus broke out in Wuhan. But many Indian professionals who have their business in China besides lucrative jobs could not return causing complete disruption of their lives and businesses.

The petition followed China’s last week decision to permit “some” Indian students among over 23,000 studying in Chinese universities to return as part of a limited opening up for foreign students, relaxing its stringent COVID-19 protocols under which visas and flights to India remained cancelled.

“Actually, the work for Indian students’ return has already been started. All that remains to be done is for the Indian side to provide the list of students who really need to come back to China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told the media on Friday.