Guwahati: Nepal has formally requested India to recognise its National Identity Card (NID) as a valid travel document for cross-border movement, a move aimed at strengthening identity verification while facilitating travel between the two neighbouring countries.
The proposal was submitted by Nepal’s Department of Immigration to the Government of India in late June, according to Director General Ram Chandra Tiwari.
At present, India recognises Nepal’s passport and citizenship certificate as valid identity documents for cross-border travel. Citizens of India and Nepal do not require passports or visas for most forms of travel between the two countries.
Tiwari said Nepal wants the biometric National Identity Card to be accepted for air travel as well as cross-border movement.
“At present, India recognises mainly Nepal’s passport and citizenship certificate as official identity documents. We have formally proposed that the National Identity Card also be accepted as a valid identification document for air travel and cross-border movement,” he said.
The National Identity Card, comparable to India’s Aadhaar in its use of biometric authentication, contains fingerprints, facial images and iris scans. Nepal has made the card mandatory for several public services, including passport applications, land registration, opening bank accounts and accessing government services, as it gradually replaces the traditional citizenship certificate with a digitally verifiable identity document.
Following Nepal’s request, officials from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu sought information from Nepal’s immigration authorities on the technical and security features of the card.
“The embassy officials made informal inquiries regarding the card’s technical and security aspects. It was not a formal bilateral meeting but an exchange of information,” Tiwari said.
He said the biometric card offers stronger security than the paper-based citizenship certificate.
“A citizenship certificate is merely a paper document without biometric information, whereas the NID provides a secure and reliable means of identification. Its recognition would enhance security arrangements for both Nepal and India,” he added.
According to Nepal’s Department of National ID and Civil Registration, more than 4.5 million people have received the National Identity Card, while around 20 million have enrolled for one.