400+ Indian students have died on foreign shores since 2018

Canada had the highest number of deaths of Indian students at 91, while the United Kingdom followed second with 48 cases

A total of 403 Indian students have died in foreign countries since 2018 due to various reasons including natural causes, accidents and medical conditions, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Lok Sabha. Canada had the highest number of deaths of Indian students at 91, while the United Kingdom followed second with 48 cases, according to a report from indiatvnews.com.

“As per the information available with the ministry, 403 incidents of death of Indian students abroad have been reported since 2018 due to various reasons including natural causes, accidents and medical conditions,” the minister said in the Parliament in response to a question on the safety of Indian students abroad. The minister said the welfare of Indian students in foreign countries is one of the foremost priorities of the government.

The country-wise data presented by the EAM showed 91 Indian students died in Canada, 48 in the UK, 40 in Russia, 36 in the US, 35 in Australia, 21 in Ukraine and 20 in Germany. According to the statistics, 14 Indian students died in Cyprus, 10 each in the Philippines and Italy and nine each in Qatar, China and Kyrgyzstan.

Jaishankar’s statement came at a time when four Indian or Indian-origin students were killed in the United States within the month of January. The Consulate General of India in New York on February 1 informed about the death of Shreyas Reddy Benigeri, an Indian American student, in Ohio, although no foul play was suspected.

“As per the information available with the ministry, 403 incidents of death of Indian students abroad have been reported since 2018 due to various reasons including natural causes, accidents and medical conditions.”

The incident occurred days after Neel Acharya, an Indian-origin student pursuing a double major at the prestigious Purdue University, was found dead near the varsity airport. Prior to that, 25-year-old Indian student Vivek Saini was fatally attacked in Georgia state’s Lithonia city by a homeless drug addict.

Another Indian-American student, 18-year-old Akul B Dhawan at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was found dead last month with signs of hypothermia. Dhawan reportedly went missing in the early hours of January 20 and was found dead almost 10 hours later on the back porch of a building near the university campus in Illinois.

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