3 Afghan students studying at Andhra University return home in cargo plane

Visakhapatnam: Three Ph.D students from Afghanistan who had enrolled in Andhra University in January 2021 flew home from New Delhi in a cargo plane that came from Kabul to New Delhi to pick up medicines. These students are probably the first to leave Andhra Pradesh after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

The president of the Afghan Students Association of Visakhapatnam, Abeedullah Aabede, said the three students had sent a Visa application to travel to Afghanistan by road via Wagha, Iran, and Dubai. They were in New Delhi waiting for permission.

An hour before the flight took off last week, they received a call from the embassy to rush to the New Delhi International Airport and board the plane leaving for Kabul. They could not believe their luck. They boarded the plane without a ticket or a Visa, Abeedullah said.

He said Afghanistan's largest private airline Kam Airlines cargo plane had come to pick up 16,000 kg of essential medicines for the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul. It picked up the three students on its way back. The ticket would have cost them each $800, Abeedullah said.

There are about 130 Afghan students, including 25 female students, enrolled in various courses at Andhra University and JNTU.

Recently, Andhra University had permitted 40 students to enroll from post-graduate to Ph.D programme and undergraduate to post-graduate courses.

The fellowship of 25 students has been sanctioned while the process if underway for the remaining 15 students, said the dean of International Students Affairs, Prof. E. Dhanjay Rao.

Adeedullah added, "The fellowship of three undergraduate students could not be recommended as they failed the final year examination. I have requested the registrar to revaluate their papers as it would be tough for them to live in India without fellowship and as their home country has shut its doors.''