New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday clarified that the lotus symbol on the newly issued passports is an additional security feature.
“It is just one of the national symbols that will be used for this purpose on a rotational basis,” foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said, who asked to put an end to speculation about the passport being used as a campaign tool of the BJP.
“The lotus is our national flower and this is part of the enhanced security feature to identify fake passports. Frankly, we did not want to disclose this but now that a question has come up we have to say this. These new security features have been introduced as part of the International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines,” Kumar added.
“There is a basket of symbols. If it is lotus this month, it will be something else next month,” he added.
Raveesh Kumar opened up about the issue after Congress MP from Kozhikode M.V. Raghavan raised the matter in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
