Kathmandu: Nepal has formally asked India to recognise its biometric National Identity Card as a valid document for cross-border travel, officials said, in a move aimed at strengthening identity checks and easing movement between the two countries.
The request has been sent through diplomatic channels and is awaiting New Delhi’s response.
The National Identity Card, or NID, carries biometric details such as fingerprints, facial images and iris scans. Nepal has made the card mandatory for several services, including passport applications, land registration and bank accounts, as part of its efforts to replace the traditional citizenship certificate with digitally readable identity cards.
Ram Chandra Tiwari, director general of the Department of Immigration, told IANS that his office sent the proposal to the Government of India in late June, seeking recognition of the NID for air travel and cross-border movement.
He said officials from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu recently sought information on the card’s technical and security features in informal exchanges.
At present, India recognises Nepal’s passport and citizenship certificate as official documents. Citizens of both countries do not need visas for travel between Nepal and India, and Indian travellers to Nepal by air can currently use passports, voter identity cards or government-issued identity cards.
More than 4.5 million Nepali citizens have already received the NID, while around 20 million have enrolled for it, according to the Department of National ID and Civil Registration.
(Inputs from IANS)