India, June 26 -- On Wednesday, an MEA official explained that the Indian passport is a "travel document," not a "citizenship document." While only Indian citizens can obtain a passport after verification, simply having one does not, on its own, prove citizenship.

This statement was made during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in several states, in which some people attempted to use passports to contest their exclusion from the rolls. This distinction is important because the Supreme Court has also said that Aadhaar is just an identity document, not proof of citizenship.

This difference is based on the law. The Passports Act, 1967, states that a passport's primary purpose is to facilitate international travel. It iden...