'Citizenship Act won't take away Indian's Citizenship'

The amended citizenship law is meant to give citizenship to religiously persecuted refugees and not to take away the citizenship of Indians of any religion, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu told trainee diplomats from Bangladesh on Tuesday.

He also said that India is aware of the heavy burden on Bangladesh as a result of the influx of lakhs of displaced persons from the Rakhine State of Myanmar and that it appreciates Dhaka for its humanitarian gesture towards these displaced persons.

He said that Bangladesh could count on India’s full support towards their bilateral efforts with Myanmar in the repatriation of displaced Rohingyas back to Myanmar, a statement from the Vice President's Secretariat said.