On 11 July 2008, President Serge Sargsian received the Ambassador of India Ms. Rina Pandey for their first tete-a-tete since the presidential elections. They reviewed the bilateral ties between the two countries including in the area of education and science. According to the President’s Office of Public Relations, “it was noted that nowadays many Indians study in Yerevan”.I am not however sure if “it was noted” that their number has continuously declined since 2006 and if the trend continues, there will be no Indian student left in Armenia in 2-3 years from now.
For Indian students, Armenia has lost its attractiveness mainly due to:
1. Unfavorable evolution of exchange rates
2. Mistreatment of Indian students in Armenia
In fact, since the tragic events and the protest movement of spring 2006 at Mekhitar Heratsi Yerevan State Medical University (YSMU), the Indian Embassy in Armenia, thanks to Ms. Panday, has explicitly discouraged Indian students from applying to Armenian institutions, in general, and to YSMU, in particular.
Moreover, Indians who have graduated and returned to their home country have justifiably generated an extremely negative publicity about Armenian higher education.
Anyway, I hope Ambassador Pandey had at least the opportunity to raise the issue of the remaining Indian students at YSMU who continue to endure intimidation and harassment by their university administrators.
