Delhi University welcomes students from abroad in orientation programme

The Delhi University received close to 100 foreign students under the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships, a marked increased from last year’s 70. 

IICR, under the Ministry of External Affairs, promotes cultural relations of India with foreign countries. Encouraging foreign students to study in India by providing scholarships is one of the primary vehicles employed by IICR to strengthen relationships with other nations.

Of the 580 international students who have taken admission in academic year 2016-2017, 360 are self-financed, 120 students are Tibetan who have separate scholarship provisions from the Tibetan government-in-exile- and rest are IICR scholars. 

“All the 40 African students are IICR scholars, 35 from Afghanistan are IICR scholars, 10 from Nepal, 8 from Maldives, one each of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. An Indian-origin British citizen is also an IICR scholar,” said Amrit Kaur, dean of foreign student.

Welcoming the freshers, the Delhi University on Thursday held its orientation programme at the Convention Centre. The event, which also showcased cultural performances of various nationalities, was attended by the officials of the varsity and officials from embassies of Nepal and Afghanistan. 

 

“The university is committed to provide academic and cultural space for international students. And as a proof of this, there was a surge in the numbers of applicants of foreign origin from 2,000 last year to around 3,500 this year. To an extent, their presence in the campus can also be attributed to efforts of the government,” said added Kaur.

 J P Khurana, Pro ViceChancellor, urged the students to explore the university and city academically and culturally till the time they are in the campus. While Tarun Das, the Registrar, elaborated about enabling facilities provided by the University to the foreign students. 

“200 million years ago there was only one continent on earth which was called Pangaea. This giant continent gradually broke away and formed seven continents as we know today. So in spite of national boundaries, we are all one as far as geology is concerned,” said dean of colleges, Devesh Sinha to the students coming from as many as 60 countries.  

The University provides five per cent quota for foreign nationals in each course. They are allotted courses and colleges by the Foreign Student Registry office. Moreover, foreign nationals are exempted from appearing in entrance tests of various professional colleges under the University such as the Faculty of Management Studies.

“The healthy relations between our government and the Indian government, and the incentives provided by the Indian government in form of scholarships are the reason why Afghan students come to India to study.

As for me, name of India in computer sector prompted me to choose India to study,” said a student from Afghanistan, Mirwais Wafa, a student of Computer Science in Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies.