Visa issue will be resolved by year-end, Australia tells India

New Delhi, October 12

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that he has been assured that the problem of visa backlog, particularly in respect to students, will be resolved by the end of the year.

The visa backlog issue is of utmost concern to the Indian students who are trying to return to educational institutions in Australia following the Covid pandemic.

In his address to the Indian community in Australia, Jaishankar said, “And 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.”

Jaishankar, who is on his second visit to Australia, said he was assured that the situation had improved and about 77,000 Indian students were 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.

The minister also said that it was 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.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics-2021 census, Australia’s Indian diaspora numbers approximately 7,00,000, and Indians are expected to outnumber Chinese-born Australians over the next decade. — IANS