As many as 3,672 Indian women married to Nepalese men since the promulgation of the new constitution in September last year have become naturalised citizens of the Himalayan nation, the home ministry said on Tuesday.
The issue of citizenship to Indians married to Nepalese nationals was a big issue during the Terai/Madhes agitation.
India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Sawraj had on September 7 said in parliament that Indian girls married in Nepal were granted naturalised citizenship through matrimony.
“But the new constitution has erased the provision of naturalised citizenship through matrimony,” she had said.
Binod KC, joint secretary in Nepal’s ministry of home affairs, said Indian girls married to Nepali citizens from 20 districts of the Terai/Madhes region were among the top recipients of naturalised citizenship.
The new constitution does not discriminate against any foreign woman married to a Nepali, he said.