India will resume visa issuance to nationals of Afghanistan, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said.
The announcement has been confirmed in a press conference by a spokesperson for the Ministry, Randhir Jaiswal, VisaGuide.World reports.
The new decision is expected to facilitate the travel process for Afghan students after they previously addressed a letter to the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seeking visas in order to be eligible to pursue their studies in India.
Since August 15, 2021, a large number of students from Afghanistan have been left in limbo as a result of difficulties related to their visa renewals and scholarship extensions in India.
A large number of students from Afghanistan have been subject to difficulties due to the inability to hold the needed visas and complete their studies.
These students who have been making notable progress in their academic studies, have been unable to return to their educational institutions in India.
India Urging Afghans to Apply for E-Visa Program
Last year, India called on nationals of Afghanistan to apply through the e-visa program. However, such a program is only valid for six months and such a visa is issued only under rare circumstances.
According to the figures from Al Jazeera, in 2022, only 300 Afghans benefited from the e-visas.
Last year, the Afghan embassy in New Delhi said that over 2,500 students from Afghanistan enrolled in Indian universities and colleges were stuck in Afghanistan after their visas were not issued.
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), previously offered a total of 1,000 annual scholarships to nationals from Afghanistan who wanted to study in India.
A large number of nationals from Afghanistan benefited from the scholarship program, which offered more than 25,000 Indian rupees ($302) as a stipend as well as 6,500 rupees ($73) as house rent per month to each student.
Afghan Students Skeptical About Studying in India
Earlier this year, authorities in India announced a total of 1,000 scholarships for Afghan students interested in pursuing their undergraduate and postgraduate courses online from Indian universities for the 2024/25 academic year.
However, under the current situation, students of Afghanistan are thinking twice when planning to head to India for study purposes.
The recent online scholarships are just a political action, if India really wanted to help students it shouldn’t have canceled their study visas. Over 2,000 students are still waiting on resumption of their studies in India and many of them have spent over USD$280,000 and still, there’s no result.
A report from the Pie News reveals that India is home to more than 13,000 students from Afghanistan.