Update: Tata Sons has clarified that Mr Ratan Tata does not hold a diplomatic passport. See comments section.

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Is he an Indian diplomat?

“After all, you have given Ratan Tata a diplomatic passport. He always travels with the red passport,” the American continued.

[…]

The American told him that he had once travelled first class with the industrialist, he had seen Tata’s diplomatic passport and when they both alighted at New York, Tata went to the special immigration enclosure for diplomatic passport-holders .

When S.M. Krishna became external affairs minister in May 2009, one of his earliest discretionary decisions was to issue a diplomatic passport to Tata, recognising his emergence as a global investor and industrialist who has to travel extensively worldwide, some of those trips on behalf of the government or representing his country. [KP Nayar]

And that is not the only shocking thing there. There’s also the revelation that the Maharashtra government allowed an American government group to fly out without security check!

The Indian state is India’s biggest embarrassment.