New Delhi (The Stellar News): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has that he took up with Australian authorities the issue of visa backlog, particularly related to students seeking to return to educational institutions in the country following the COVID pandemic, and was assured that the problem would be resolved by the year end.
Jaishankar, who is on a two-day visit to Australia, said this on Tuesday during an address to the Indian community.
The minister said that he was assured that the situation has improved and about 77,000 Indian students are back in Australia.
“But you all know that the numbers should be and could be much higher and I was assured that by the end of the year the visa backlog, particularly in respect to students, would be cleared,” he said.
“It’s not just students because there’s a community there are also family reasons for people to travel. I think there’s an appreciation today of the importance of resuming tourism in a big way,” he said.
He expressed hope that this is “one of the big disruptions of the Covid era that we will be able to put behind us in the coming year.”
The Indian community in Australia continues to grow in size and importance, with the population of about seven hundred thousand.
India is one of the top sources of skilled immigrants to Australia. Approximately 105,000 students presently study in Australian universities. After the UK, India is the second largest migrant group in Australia in 2020.
Jaishanker said two issues, partnership on mobility and mutual recognition degrees and qualifications, would be transformational for the bilateral relationship. Partnership on mobility”means that Indian skills and talents that are in demand in austalia will have a legal framework, an agreed methodology by which they move from one country to another,” he said.
