16 Chinese nationals granted Indian citizenship since 2007: Govt

New Delhi, March 16

A total 16 Chinese nationals have granted Indian citizenship since 2007 while 10 applications are pending with the government, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

As per data available in the online citizenship module, 10 applications of Chinese nationals are pending for grant of citizenship, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question asked by DMK's Tiruchi Siva on asylum and citizenship requests of communities from China, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Mongolians since 2019.

"Only nationality-wise data is maintained. Community-wise data is not maintained," he said.

Officials in the Ministry, however, said that the government has not offered asylum to the Uyghur community, which faces repression at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

The minister also said that all foreign nationals (including asylum seekers) are governed by the provisions contained in The Foreigners Act, 1946, The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and The Citizenship Act, 1955.

He also said that India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereon and that also the data on requests for asylum is not centrally maintained.