Mysuru, Sep 8 (IANS): Karnataka Minister for Higher Education, C.N. Ashwath Narayan, said on Tuesday that the state government cannot do anything with regard to the extension of visas for students from Afghanistan.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will take care of the matter. Whoever wants visa extension can file their applications. The ministry will take care of the matter," he said.

"We are not going to provide visa for a period of one month to anyone. The students will get visas for a stipulated time on the basis of academic requirements. We cannot interfere in these matters," Narayan said.

However, on a humanitarian ground, their other problems could be looked at, he added.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of Mysuru University, G. Hemanth Kumar, had assured the Afghan atudents studying on the campus that the university will act as their caretaker and they can stay back on the campus until their visas expire.

"The images on television are horrible. We cannot control what is happening there in Afghanistan. But we will protect the students from Afghanistan studying here. Till the time they stay on the campus, the university will be their caretaker," Kumar had said.

As many as 92 students from Afghanistan are studying at the Mysuru University. Fifteen Afghan students are pursuing their PhD and MSc programmes in agriculture at the Dharwad Agricultural University. In addition, more than 300 Afghan students are enrolled in various courses in Bengaluru.