TBM Staff - Mumbai External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has informed that the Australian authorities had assured him of the redressal of the visa backlog issue, especially of Indian students, by the year’s end.
The visa backlog issue is a prime concern of students who are trying to return to educational institutions in the country following the COVID pandemic.
“I want to tell you that it was something that I took up with different ministers when I was in Canberra. We have a particular problem that students are facing,” he said while addressing the Indian Community on Tuesday.
The Minister said that he was assured that the situation has improved and about 77,000 Indian students are back in Australia. He said the numbers of visas from India should and could be much more. That’s why the government will work with Australian authorities to sort out the issue by the end of the year.
He also highlighted the fact that it’s not just a problem for students but also for many other Indians who want to travel due to family reasons. He also
applauded the resumption of tourism in Australia and other countries of the world post-COVID pandemic.
There will be a legal framework for talented Indians to move to another country for work, said S Jaishankar
Notably, India is finalising such agreements with a lot of countries like Japan, the UK, and France.
“We are close to concluding one with Germany. And we, I think we’ve done some preliminary work in this with Australia. So I’m very much hoping that that is one area where we can see rapid progress because we know that in many domains, there are skill shortages in Australia,” he said.
S Jaishankar expressed hopes of opening additional consulates in Australia in the future. He also said there was also an interest reiterated during his visit for Australia to open a consulate in Bengaluru. (Source: Mint)
