India says medical degrees in Pakistan occupied Kashmir "shall not be recognised"

Guwahati: The Medical Council of India has declared in a notice that India will not recognize degrees awarded by medical colleges in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This move is designed to partially block Prime Minister Imran Khan's scholarship scheme for 1,600 Kashmiri students every year.

The MCI announcement comes months after the Jammu and Kashmir high court asked the MCI and external affairs ministry to review its position on the issue of whether students who study medicine in these territories could be allowed to practice.

The court's December 2019 order came after a petition was filed by a young Kashmiri woman who had studied medicine in PoK but was not allowed to sit for the exam meant for people who studied abroad. This order was still in motion when the Pakistan government announced the scheme to extend generous scholarships for 1,600 Kashmiri students in February.

Security agencies issued an alert on the Imran Khan government's outreach to Kashmiri students soon after. Pakistan had been offering cheaper education options to Kashmiri students for years, mostly based on the recommendation of Kashmiri separatist leaders.

There had been several cases where Kashmiris had gone to Pakistan and its occupied territories through legal means to study but returned via the Line of Control after receiving training at terror camps.

A counter-terror operative said those students who did stick to studies returned more radicalized than they were when they left.

"This is to inform all concerned that entire territories of UT of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh are an integral part of India. Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the territory. Accordingly, any medical institution in Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh (POJKL) requires permission/recognition under the Indian Medical Council Act 1956. Such permission has not been granted to any medical college in PoJKL. Therefore, any qualification obtained from medical colleges within these illegally occupied areas of India shall not entitle a person for grant of registration under Indian Medical Council Act 1956 to practice modern medicine in India," the MCI said in the statement.

This notice meant that students who pass out from professional colleges in PoK cannot sit for the exam meant for foreigners/foreign returned students because the occupied territories are an integral part of India.

Security officials told the media that the MCI order only deals with one part of the challenge. The notice, however, does not deal with students who receive their degrees from universities based in Pakistan. "Unless this is stopped, it would remain a key area of concern," one of them said.

But there has been no agreement at the meetings that have been held to discuss the security concerns from PM Khan's scholarship offer. An official informed there were certain questions surrounding the legal powers of the government to stop citizens from studying in certain institutions in the absence of facilitating legal provisions.

"This is still work in progress," he said, adding that security agencies were working out a plan that would withstand legal scrutiny.