More Indian students than their Pakistani peers will be hurt by the two countries’ decision to cancel the visas granted to each other’s citizens.
Official data show that several times more Indians go to Pakistan to study than the other way round — a surprising finding given that India would widely be deemed to have the better universities.
The absolute numbers of the two sets of cross-border students are, however,
very small.
After the Pahalgam attack, the cabinet committee on security decided on Wednesday to suspend the Saarc Visa Exemption Scheme for Pakistanis. Islamabad retaliated with a tit-for-tat move for all Indians except Sikh religious pilgrims.
This means that Indian and Pakistani students would have to leave each other’s countries.
Figures given by the Union government in Parliament on December 18, 2024, provided a year-wise breakup of Pakistani student visas granted to Indians. They suggest that 1,968 Indian students enrolled in Pakistani institutions in the five years between 2019-20 and 2023-24, an average of nearly 400 fresh enrolments a year.
In contrast, figures from the five years between 2017-18 and 2021-22 — provided by an education department survey — show an average of 26 Pakistani students studying in India in any of these years, including fresh and previous enrolments.
No one in the government or academia could give a clear answer why Pakistan attracted far more Indian students than vice versa, and what subjects the Indian students went to Pakistan to study.
A former University Grants Commission official said the Indian students in Pakistan probably pursued medical, engineering and management courses at private institutions.
“The curricula of the professional courses (in Pakistan) are very similar to India’s. Many of those who fail to get opportunities in India go to other Asian countries to study professional courses. That could be the reason why Indian students go to Pakistan,” he said.
Indians earning MBBS degrees in foreign countries — except the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — have to take the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), conducted by the National Board of Examinations, to be able to practise or pursue further studies in India.
Data show that 10 Indians who had graduated from four medical colleges in Pakistan appeared in the FMGE in 2023, and only two of them passed.
Saarc varsity
Mukhtar Ahmed, chairman of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission, is the current chairman of the governing board of the South Asian University, set up jointlyby the Saarc countries in New Delhi.
The board oversees the institution’s overall functioning, including its academic policies, budget and strategic planning.
Ahmed was in Delhi in January to attend the last board meeting. With visas being cancelled, the board is unlikely to meet until Ahmed’s tenure ends next January, or until the visa cancellations are revoked, whichever is earlier.
The SAU governing board chairmanship is held by appointees from the different Saarc countries by rotation.