Passport Issued to Indian Citizens for Travel, Not Conclusive Proof of Citizenship: Indian Ministry of External Affairs

Passport Issued to Indian Citizens for Travel, Not Conclusive Proof of Citizenship: Indian Ministry of External Affairs

New Delhi, July 15, 2026 [VoM News]: Bringing the clarity to the fiasco, the Ministry of External Affairs of India (MEA) has stated that that an Indian passport is primarily a travel document which is issued to Indian citizens under the Passports Act, 1967, and is not conclusive proof of citizenship.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal made these remarks while addressing the weekly media briefing on Tuesday.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that passports are issued after due verification through an established process under the Passports Act, 1967, and the Passports Rules, 1980.

He said the document is meant to regulate the departure of Indian citizens from the country.

MEA last month stated that passports are issued to Indian citizens, for the purpose to facilitate international travel and establish identity abroad of the Indian citizens.

This clarification came, at a time, when already politics was turning the heat regarding passport as to be accepted document for proof of citizenship during the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Bombay High Court, in 2013, gave a judgement stating that possession of a passport alone is not conclusive evidence of Indian citizenship, where as, govt sources say that passports could also be given to non-citizens.

Currently, less than 8 percent of Indian citizens hold a passport, and the clarification made by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has made the issue crystall clear.

However, there is still a fiasco on acceptance of documents as proof of citizenship. As people asks the authorities to reveal which documents are the proof the Indian citizenship, which is yet unclear on large scale, and this fiasco continues still.