New Delhi: The passport is a travel document, not a document of citizenship, officials at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said this week. Marking the 14th Passport Seva Divas on June 24, MEA officials highlighted measures incorporated into new chip-based e-passports, such as biometric data, to boost global acceptance and reduce the risk of fraud.
The passport remains a travel document, and not a document of citizenship, as it attests the nationality of Indians when they are abroad, the officials said. “A passport is issued after a lot of due diligence, and it is based on documents from several government agencies,” an official said, as per Hindustan Times.
The statement triggered a widespread debate on X on what exactly constitutes conclusive proof of citizenship. The officials also said that a total of 14.7 million e-passports have been issued since the chip-based documents were rolled out last year as part of a revamp of the Passport Seva Program.
