Allowing dual citizenship could deepen India’s ties with its global diaspora and aid its economy

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As a frequently travelling business lawyer, I often find myself in conversations going beyond legal principles and term sheets. Increasingly, these discussions veer into a shared anxiety about global instability and simultaneously a renewed optimism about India.

Among successful Indian expats, many of whom have acquired foreign citizenship, there is a palpable desire to reclaim or retain an Indian passport while keeping their adopted nationality intact. This is not a matter of convenience alone, but also a rational response to a rapidly changing geopolitical and economic landscape. India today is a bright spot.

While advanced economies grapple with political polarization, slowing growth and fiscal stress, India offers scale, stability and long-term opportunity. It is, therefore, unsurprising that members of the Indian diaspora, excelling abroad but retaining deep emotional and economic ties with India, seek a more formal and enduring bond with India. The time may be ripe for us to revisit our long-standing aversion to dual citizenship.

India’s current framework, centred on the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), was a pragmatic innovation. It acknowledged the reality of global mobility while preserving the constitutional principle of single citizenship. OCI offers visa-free entry, parity with non-resident Indians in several economic spheres and a sense of belonging.

Yet, it stops short of full legal nationality. An OCI holder is, in constitutional terms, a foreigner, deprived of absolute protection against regulatory shifts and the security offered by a passport. The distinction may appear semantic in ordinary times, but it becomes consequential in extraordinary ones.