“We have heard a lot from the students and I think their frustrations, their feelings, are completely understandable.
— External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar
External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, raised the issue of travel curbs on Indian students travelling to Australia with Marise Payne, his Australian counterpart. In fact, India has asked that coronavirus travel restrictions, for thousands of students who have been unable to get into Australia since the pandemic began, be relaxed.
Jaishankar said that he raised the issue “in some detail” with Marise Payne when he met her for talks between defence ministers from both countries dominated by Afghanistan. “We have heard a lot from the students and I think their frustrations, their feelings, are completely understandable,” Jaishankar told reporters.
“The Covid restrictions have impacted travel to and from Australia, not just the students that you have raised but for Australians themselves.” — Marise Payne, Australian Foreign Minister
“Many of them would like to be at the institutions where they want to study,” adding students were “a very high priority” for his government, which has also faced hurdles with the US and Canada. “We have been having some problems with some other countries as well. We had initially with the US, we are still having some issues with Canada,” he added.
“I am one of the most enthusiastic proponents of welcoming back our much-loved Indian students back to the Australian education system as soon as it is possible for us,” Payne said at a press conference alongside Jaishankar. She added that there were around 60,000 Indians currently studying in Australia.
“The Covid restrictions have impacted travel to and from Australia, not just the students that you have raised but for Australians themselves,” she said.
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