India’s Ministry of External Affairs is set to launch biometric passports in 2013 to comply with other countries’ requirements to incorporate biometrics into the identification documents, reports The Times of India.

The passports currently being issued do not contain any biometric features, but the ministry is installing the required technology to create them. It hopes to have the technical requirements in place next year so that it can start issuing biometric versions of its passports next year.

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