Port Vila: Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat on Monday directed the Citizenship Commission to cancel the passport issued to former Indian Premier League (IPL) founder Lalit Modi, saying that the fugitive was attempting to avoid his extradition.

On March 7, Modi filed an application with the Indian high commission in London to surrender his Indian passport. He is known to have acquired citizenship of Vanuatu, a South Pacific Island nation. He left India in 2010 and is said to have been living in London.

An official media release by the Republic of Vanuatu stated, “I have instructed the Citizenship Commission to cancel the Vanuatu passport issued to Lalit Modi following recent revelations in international media.”

“While all standard background checks, including Interpol screenings, conducted during his application showed no criminal convictions, I have been made aware in the past 24 hours that Interpol twice rejected Indian authorities’ requests to issue an alert notice on Lalit Modi due to lack of substantive judicial evidence,” the statement said. Napat said any such “alert” would have triggered an automatic rejection of Lalit Modi’s citizenship application.

The release also stated that the “Prime Minister emphasised that holding a Vanuatu passport is a privilege, not a right, and applicants must seek citizenship for legitimate reasons.”

“None of those legitimate reasons include attempting to avoid extradition, which the recent facts brought to light clearly indicate was Modi’s intention,” the statement said.

People familiar with the matter said India sent a request to the government of Vanuatu to cancel Modi’s passport along with certain details of his case.

The Vanuatu prime minister suggested that the application for citizenship of the island nation by Lalit Modi should not have been accepted by the authorities in his country.

Napat’s office said the government of Vanuatu has significantly strengthened the due diligence aspect of its ‘Citizenship by Investment Programme over the past four years, resulting in a marked increase in applications failing the enhanced scrutiny undertaken by the country’s financial intelligence unit.

The improved process implemented several years ago includes triple-agency checks, including Interpol verification, it said.

India doesn’t have a mission in Vanuatu and the Indian high commission in New Zealand handles relations with the island nation.

In recent years, India has ramped up its outreach to the Pacific Island nations as part of the four-nation grouping Quad’s efforts to counter China’s growing presence in that region.

Last week, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Modi has filed an application with the Indian high commission in London to surrender his Indian passport.

“He has made an application for surrendering his passport in the high commission of India, London,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

If Modi’s request for cancellation of the Indian passport is accepted, then he may become an illegal alien in the UK as Vanuatu is also revoking his citizenship.

The former IPL chief is wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies in connection with allegations that he was involved in embezzlement of crores of rupees during his stint as the top boss of the IPL.