Vanuatu PM cancels Lalit Modi’s passport after India’s interpol bid fails
Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat ordered the Citizenship Commission to cancel Lalit Modi’s passport after Interpol rejected India’s request for an alert. He cited insufficient evidence as the reason for the rejection and emphasized that Modi’s citizenship application would have been denied if an alert had been issued.
“I have instructed the Citizenship Commission to immediately begin proceedings to cancel Mr. Modi’s Vanuatu passport,” Napat stated. He confirmed that while initial background checks, including Interpol screenings, showed no criminal convictions, new information changed the situation.
“In the past 24 hours, I learned that Interpol rejected India’s request twice due to a lack of substantive judicial evidence,” Napat said. He stressed that a Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not a right, and applicants must have legitimate reasons for seeking citizenship.
“None of those reasons include avoiding extradition, which recent facts suggest was Mr. Modi’s intention,” he added.
Napat highlighted Vanuatu’s recent efforts to strengthen the due diligence process for its citizenship-by-investment program. Stricter scrutiny has led to more applications failing under enhanced checks by the financial intelligence unit.
The updated process now includes triple-agency verification, with Interpol playing a key role in background checks. With this move, Vanuatu aims to maintain the integrity of its citizenship program and prevent misuse.
