MEA making efforts to ease travel curbs for Indian students in foreign universities: Govt

The Ministry of External Affairs is taking adequate measures to ease up travel for students studying in foreign universities, Minister of state, external affairs ministry, V Muraleedharan, informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Since the outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19 in India, travel restrictions have been put by several countries barring travellers from India, to avoid the spread of the Delta variant and many students who are studying in international universities are facing challenges to move back to their respective Universities.

MEA is making continuous efforts to smoothen travel restrictions: MoS MEA Muraleedharan

MoS MEA informed the house that the Union ministry has taken up the issue of travel restrictions with many countries and is holding ministerial-level talks, requesting them to ease the curbs. He further added, "The Ministry has been making efforts for easing travel restrictions wherever in place, for Indian students enrolled in foreign universities to make their travel to respective countries possible." 

In his address, MoS, Muraleedharan mentioned that the travel restrictions were being eased for Indian students to travel to many countries, including the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Georgia, etc.
 

"Issue of travel restrictions has been taken up at ministerial level with several countries. Consequently, travel restrictions are being eased for Indian students to travel to many countries, including the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Georgia, the minister said in the upper house.

He also asserted that several other countries are in talks with India, and they are expected to remove the restrictions as the COVID-19 situation improves. Many emigrants, NRIs who have moved back to India during the pandemic are now facing difficulties to move back, due to strict norms imposed on international travel by various countries. The students have to suffer the most, among all. The minister reinstated, that Indian missions abroad have been actively taking up these issues with the respective governments and have been impressing upon these stern issues.

Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar has acknowledged that the ministry is making continuous efforts to smoothen out the movement of people, out of India, since the Coronavirus cases started to settle in the country after the outbreak of ferocious second wave.

(Image: ANI)