Lalit Modi Gets Vanuatu Citizenship: 10 Facts About the Island Nation

Fugitive entrepreneur Lalit Modi has submitted an application to relinquish his Indian passport at the Indian High Commission in London. Modi is said to have acquired citizenship from Vanuatu, a Pacific island country famous for its Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI) scheme.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that the founder of IPL submitted an application to renounce his Indian citizenship on Friday.

Following are 10 interesting facts about Vanuatu, the island nation where Lalit Modi has become a citizen:

1. Vanuatu is an 83-island archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, of which 65 islands are inhabited.
2. It is situated to the east of Australia and north of New Zealand, halfway between Australia and Fiji. Its capital is Port Vila, situated on Efate Island.
3. Bislama, English, and French are the three official languages of Vanuatu, and Bislama is the national language.
4. The economy of Vanuatu is agrarian in nature, supplemented by tourism, fishing, and offshore banking and financial services. Kava exports are a dominant feature of the economy.
5. Vanuatu imposes no income tax, capital gains tax, or inheritance tax and no exchange control but relies on VAT, tourism, and agricultural exports for its revenues.
6. Vanuatu’s Citizenship-by-Investment program allows foreign nationals to acquire citizenship by making a monetary donation, typically around $150,000 USD. Passports are a significant source of revenue for the government.
7. Citizens holding a Vanuatu passport have visa-free travel to 56 countries, which makes the citizenship scheme very appealing.
8. Approximately 90% of Vanuatu families fish and eat fish, and their diet also includes locally cultivated root crops like yams, taro, and sweet potatoes.
9. It contains active volcanoes like Mount Yasur, which is among the world’s most accessible erupting volcanoes. It also contains a number of volcanoes that lie beneath the ocean.
10. The 2020 census revealed that it had 300,019 residents, almost equally composed of men and women (151,597 men and 148,422 women).