Nationality dispute: What does an Indian passport prove?

For decades, Indian citizenship was rarely questioned. Most people voted, obtained passports, enrolled in welfare schemes and went about their lives without having to demonstrate that they belonged in the country in which they were born. That assumption is steadily changing.

Last week, a senior official of India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Indian passport is primarily a travel document and should not be treated as a conclusive proof of citizenship, according to Indian media reports. Legally, that distinction is not new.

Former diplomat Veena Sikri notes that the Ministry of Home Affairs — not the MEA — has the sole authority to grant and determine citizenship. "A passport is an attribute of citizenship, but does not itself confer it," Sikri told DW.

The MEA official's reported statement comes at a time when citizenship itself has become one of India's most politically contested subjects.

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