Bhopal, Jun 27 (IANS): Three persons, including two siblings whose father was a native of Pakistan, were given Indian citizenship certificates under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by the Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday.

The third person who received the Indian citizenship certificate under CAA, Rakhi Das, has parental roots in Bangladesh.

Sameer Salwani and Sanjana Salwani, whose father was a native of Pakistan, shifted to India in 2012. The trio had applied for Indian citizenship in May this year, the state government said in a statement on Thursday.

The certificates were handed over to them by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav at the state secretariat in Bhopal.

Speaking on this occasion, CM Yadav said, "Those who have been given Indian citizenship certificates were living in the neighbouring countries, which were part of 'Akhand Bharat'. The state government welcomes them. They are now allowed to live here as Indian citizens."

The Chief Minister also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made this possible by introducing the CAA.

To recall, on March 11, the Centre notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules 2024, thus paving the way for enforcing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before December 31, 2014.