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In recent months, a video by a popular travel content creator complaining about India's weak passport gained massive traction on social media.

He mentioned although nearby nations such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming to travelers from India, obtaining visas for visiting most Western and European countries continued to be difficult.

This dissatisfaction regarding the limited global access of Indian passports was reflected in recent global passport ranking, ranking India in the 85th spot among nearly two hundred nations, a decline of five positions than last year.

The Indian government have not issued a statement on the report yet.

Nations like Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies compared to India – which is the fifth-largest economy globally – hold better positions on the index in the seventies range, in that order.

Actually, India's rank over the last ten years has remained in the 80s, falling to ninetieth place in 2021. Such standings appear poor compared to other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held top positions.

Global Passport Power Indicates

Passport strength reflects a nation's soft power and global influence. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, boosting business and learning opportunities. Limited passport power means more paperwork, increased visa expenses, fewer travel privileges and extended processing periods for travel.

However, even with the drop in position, the count of nations offering visa-free access to Indians has actually increased over the last ten years.

For example, eight years ago – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – 52 countries provided visa-free access for Indian passport holders with the passport at seventy-sixth position on the index.

A year later, it tumbled to the 85th position, then rose to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot currently. Meanwhile, visa-free destinations to Indian citizens grew from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and sixty-two this year.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of visa-free destinations this year (fifty-seven) is higher than the number eight years ago (fifty-two), yet the country's position for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Analysts note that a major reason is the increasingly competitive landscape in international travel – meaning countries are forming more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and their economies. As per recent analysis, the global average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

As an illustration, The Chinese passport has increased the number of visa-free destinations its citizens can travel to from fifty to eighty-two over the last ten years. As a result, its position on the index has improved from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – previously positioned 77th on the index in July – dropped to eighty-fifth place this autumn following the loss to two countries.

Other Influences Affecting Passport Strength

A former Indian ambassador says multiple elements that affect a nation's passport power, including its economic and political stability plus its receptiveness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For example, the US passport has dropped out of the top 10 and now occupies the 12th position – its lowest ever – due to its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The former ambassador recalls that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free travel to numerous European and Western nations, but that changed after the Sikh separatist movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have continued to damage at India's image as a stable, democratic country.

"Numerous nations are also becoming increasingly wary regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "The country possesses a large quantity of people migrating to other countries or overstaying their visas affecting the country's reputation."

Elements like how secure of a national passport and its immigration procedures also play a role to obtaining visa-free entry to foreign nations.

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport faces ongoing security threats. In 2024, authorities detained 203 people for alleged passport and visa irregularities. The country also has complex immigration processes with lengthy timelines of visa processing.

The diplomat says that technological advances, such as the newly introduced digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. This electronic document contains a microchip holding biometric data, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the passport.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements continue essential for enhancing the global mobility for Indian citizens and consequently, India's passport ranking.