Around 70,000 Indians surrendered their passports between 20011 and 2022. However, External Affairs Minister V Muraleedharan told Parliament that the count of nationals left in Indian embassies on foreign soil overstates the number.

It is not a new thing that Indians have always been eager to leave India. Anyone growing up in the 1980s will remember the times we used to welcome an overseas aunt or uncle who would bring us chocolates and other gifts.

In those days, we used to get the opportunity to go to the international airport on the pretext of these relatives.

Before liberalisation, such people who settled abroad were seen as an achievement of India. However, Indians who are willing to settle abroad today cannot be compared to their predecessors.

Migration is now being done by the rare one per cent, who are well-educated and intelligent. He has grown to dislike Delhi while living in his home in Monte Carlo (Europe).