Delhi and Ottawa (the capital city of Canada) may be locked in a diplomatic standoff, but the immigration stats show otherwise. According to the latest reports, India is the number one country to migrate to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. With American citizenship continuing to dominate Indian immigration, the Canadian land has shown the steepest growth in granting citizenship to foreign nationals.
According to a Paris-International Migration Outlook report, In the year 2023, India has become the largest national group to acquire rich-country citizenship. Canada logged the biggest proportionate increase 174% jump between 2021 and 2022 among host countries. The top 3 countries to provide passports to Indian immigrants in 2021, were the US and Australia followed by Canada.
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For the unversed, India has been the main country of origin when it comes to acquiring OECD country citizenships since 2019. In the year 2022 as well the highest number of foreign nationals acquiring OECD country citizenship was noticed in India. Moreover, in 2021, around 1.3 lakh Indians acquired citizenship of an OECD member country. Our neighboring country, China is in the fifth spot with 57,000 Chinese-acquired OECD country citizenships.
These stats have come to the fore amid ongoing tension between India and Canada. For the unversed, Canada has had to recall 41 of its 62 diplomats and their families following India's tough stance in the ongoing controversy over the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Now there will be only 21 diplomats in the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi. However, the number of Canadian diplomats was to be reduced by October 10. Canada tried to convince India in private talks, but things did not work out. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said this action has made normal life difficult for millions of people in India and Canada.
