The campaign, led by Indian Diaspora Global, an international, non-partisan platform for people of Indian origin, seeks a reassessment of constitutional and legal provisions that currently prohibit Indians from holding citizenship of another country alongside Indian nationality. The initiative was conceived to provide a unified voice to overseas Indians and strengthen their long-term engagement with India beyond symbolic or transactional relationships.
At present, Indian law does not allow dual citizenship. Section 9 of the Citizenship Act mandates the termination of Indian citizenship upon acquisition of foreign nationality, while the Passports Act, 1967, requires individuals to surrender their Indian passports once they naturalise abroad. These provisions, framed decades ago, are now under scrutiny as global workforce mobility and transnational economic participation accelerate.
According to data compiled by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs, approximately 1.63 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship in 2021, up from 85,236 in 2020 and 1.44 lakh in 2019. Between 2019 and 2021, nearly 3.92 lakh individuals gave up Indian citizenship, with over 43 percent acquiring United States nationality, highlighting what the organisation describes as a growing policy disconnect.
“Dual citizenship is not about divided loyalty; it is about acknowledging how identity and contribution function in a globalised world,” said Melwyn Chirayath, Chairman and Founder of Indian Diaspora Global. He argued that forcing overseas Indians to relinquish citizenship risks weakening enduring economic, intellectual, and cultural ties with the country.
The campaign maintains that a calibrated dual citizenship framework can be designed with clear safeguards to protect national security, constitutional values, and public office integrity. Many democracies, it notes, permit dual citizenship while enforcing strict eligibility criteria and compliance mechanisms.
Manoj Sharma, President for Communications and Outreach at Indian Diaspora Global, said Pravasi Bharatiya Divas should be used for substantive policy reflection rather than ceremonial engagement. “The steady rise in citizenship surrenders is a data-backed signal that the current framework may be misaligned with global realities,” he said.
Indian Diaspora Global emphasised that “Keep The Door Open” does not oppose global mobility or individual choice, but questions whether acquiring foreign citizenship should result in a permanent severance of legal and civic ties with India at a time when the diaspora continues to contribute significantly to the country’s global standing.
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