New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (East) P Kumaran on Monday said that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney mentioned to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about 400,000 Indian students studying in Canada, which is twice the number in the US and four times the number in the UK.

Kumaran, while speaking at the Special Briefing on the Official Visit of the Prime Minister of Canada to India, said that Indian consulates and High Commissions are in touch with the students and will take all necessary steps to provide all possible assistance to students.

'Our consulates and our High Commission are in touch with our students, our community bodies, and they will take all necessary steps to work with Canadian security agencies and law enforcement to try and provide all possible assistance to students who face any difficulties in Canada,' he said.

Kumaran said, 'Prime Minister Carney mentioned that there are 400,000 Indian students in Canada studying there, which is twice the number in the US and four times the number in the UK. There's been a broad popular pressure on politics in Canada that too many foreign students coming into Canada puts pressure on the job market, puts pressure on infrastructure and citizen services available in Canada.'

'As part of that, they seem to have moved in a direction where there are restrictions coming in terms of the number of students they are willing to take in the future. I suppose it is up to every country to decide how much student intake their systems can handle, and it is up to them to make an assessment based on their own assessed capacities. Our aim is to try to take advantage of high-quality Canadian educational institutions and find ways to partner with them,' he added.

Kumaran said that PM Modi invited Canadian universities to set up campuses in India.

'The Prime Minister also invited Canadian universities to set up campuses in India. There are R&D partnerships that are spoken of. So there are these multiple alternate approaches being tried. At some point, if opportunities open up for our youngsters to go back in numbers that are comparable to what we saw in the past, it will be good,' he said.

Kumaran said that on account of their job market being disproportionately hit, Canada is currently undertaking reforms in its visa and immigration policies.

'We also understand that Canada is currently undertaking reforms in its visa and immigration policies. There is pressure on medical and housing services, but mobility is something both are working on. There is an education MoU, and we continue to discuss multiple MoUs that speak of mobility pathways between India and Canada,' he said. (ANI)