Istanbul (Turkey), Sep. 18 : In a unique landmark exercise, the Indian Government has undertaken a massive action plan to help over 150,000 illegal Indian immigrants acquire Italian citizenship within the next fortnight.

Revealing this information exclusively to ANI TV, Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said the Italian Government has given New Delhi fifteen days to formalise the required documentation.

Krishna further revealed that about 50 percent of the over 150,000 illegal Indians hailed from Punjab and a majority of them were doing odd jobs in agricultural farms in Italy.

He said the Indian Government has taken the matter up with Italy and the latter has agreed to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants.

Krishna told ANI TV that he has ordered officials from Punjab to reach Italy to facilitate the process, adding that P. M. Meena, a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, would oversee the whole exercise.

The External Affairs Ministry would be issuing over 75,000 thousand passports in the next ten days to formalise a process which is unique anywhere in the world, he disclosed.

There are three types of illegal immigrants (a) those who have left India on their own passport with short term visa and have overstayed after expiry of visa; (b) those who have left India on their own passport to a transit country like Ukraine, or Russia etc. but stayed in Italy without passport or visa and (c) those who have left on some else’s passport or under a fake identity and entered Italy illegally. (ANI)