Emphasising the need to expedite the roll-out of e-passports, the MEA Secretary said these passports will be secure with biometric data and will enable smooth passage through immigration posts globally, among other things.
In his address via video conference on the occasion of the Passport Seva Divas, Jaishankar also said the government intends to open a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra in every Lok Sabha constituency.
The Centre will roll out chip embedded e-passports, which can be incorporated with passports so that the information can be verified electronically, in the first phase by next year.
India and China are back to sparring over territorial claims involving Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin.