When Australia Education Minister Jason Clare announced on August 27 his government’s plans to fix the intake of international students at , prospective Indian students were expected to be the hardest hit.

This move was preceded by a slew of other visa restrictive measures, including , which are supposedly aimed at ensuring “”.

The Australian cap on foreign students’ intake is the lowest in the last five years and marks a significant decrease from the international students who commenced education in the country a year ago.

Indian students constitute the of international students to different universities in Australia, behind China.

The decline in visa approval rates and other restrictions facing Indian students keen to pursue college and university level education in Australia and similar countries like Canada and the United States reflects a complex interplay of domestic policy changes, economic factors and geopolitical dynamics.

a significant departure from the more open approach these nations once took toward international student mobility.

Particularly those students from developing countries such as India, which has historically been a major source of international students studying abroad.

India’s education training in English and an abysmal higher education landscape at home contributed to this trend over the last few decades.

While major reforms...