At least 86 Indians were attacked or murdered abroad in the year 2023, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told Parliament on Thursday. There is a huge increase of 29 cases in 2021 and 57 cases in 2022 compared to the last two years.
According to the data shared, 12 of these were in the United States, and 10 each in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia.
“The security of Indians abroad is one of the most important priorities for the Government of India. Our missions and posts remain vigilant and keep a close watch on any untoward incident. To ensure that such incidents are immediately reported to the host country, The cases are taken up with the authorities and the culprits are punished,” said Kirti Vardhan Singh.
These issues have also been raised during meetings with government officials of the particular countries involved at the “highest level”.
When asked about the data of Indian citizens who voluntarily renounced their citizenship in the last 5 years, state-wise and year-wise data and the reasons for surrender, he replied, “As per the information available with the Ministry, The number of Indians giving up their Indian citizenship was 1,44,017 (in 2019); 85,256 (in 2020); 1,63,370 (in 2021); 2,25,620 (in 2023); 1,31,405 (in 2014); (in 2016) 1,33,049; (in 2017); 1,34,561 (in 2018)”.
However, state-wise distribution of people giving up Indian citizenship for foreign citizenship was not available.
He shared the names of 135 countries whose citizenship Indians have acquired, including Algeria, Australia, Austria, Greece, Iran, Iraq, China, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, US, UK and Ukraine.
He also noted that the Center has set up “24×7 helplines in Indian Missions/Posts abroad” to assist Indian citizens.
On a separate note, the government also reported that 2,16,219 Indians gave up their citizenship, which is lower than 2,25,620 in 2022, according to the data.
