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Earlier this year, a video by an Indian travel influencer expressing frustration over India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

The influencer stated although nearby nations such as Sri Lanka and Bhutan offered easier access of Indian tourists, securing travel permits for visiting most Western and European countries continued to be difficult.

This dissatisfaction with the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in the latest global passport ranking, which placed the country in the 85th spot among nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower than last year.

Officials in India have not issued a statement on the report yet.

Nations including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies compared to India – which is the world's fifth biggest economy – are ranked higher on the index at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, in that order.

Actually, the country's position in the past decade has remained around the eighties, falling to ninetieth place two years ago. Such standings are dismal when measured against other Asian countries like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, which have consistently held top positions.

What Passport Strength Indicates

The power of a passport indicates a country's global influence and international standing. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, improving commercial and educational prospects. A weak passport means additional documentation, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

However, even with the decline in the rank, the number of countries offering visa-free access to Indians has grown in the past decade or so.

As an instance, in 2014 – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party came to power – 52 countries offered visa-free access to Indians and its passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

The following year, it fell to the 85th position, then rose to 80th in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the 85th position this year. Meanwhile, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens grew from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and sixty-two this year.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The number of visa-free destinations this year (57) exceeds what it was in 2015 (fifty-two), but the country's position for both these years is 85. So, why is that?

Experts say that a primary factor involves growing competition in global mobility – meaning countries are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and their economies. According to recent analysis, the global average count of countries travellers are able to access visa-free has nearly 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 available to its citizens from 50 to 82 in the past decade. As a result, its position in the ranking has enhanced from 94th to 60th during the same time period.

In comparison, The Indian passport – which was ranked at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place this autumn after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

A former Indian ambassador notes multiple elements influencing the strength of a country's passport, like economic and political conditions plus its openness to accepting travelers from other countries.

For example, the US passport has dropped out of the top 10 and now occupies twelfth place – a historic low – because of its more inward-looking approach in global affairs.

The former ambassador recalls that during the seventies, Indians enjoyed visa-free travel to numerous European and Western nations, but that changed following Sikh separatist movement during the eighties. Later political disturbances have further chipped away at India's image as a stable, democratic country.

"Many countries are also becoming increasingly wary of immigrants," he stated. "India has a high number of people migrating to other countries or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the national image."

Elements such as the security level a country's passport is and immigration processes also contribute in gaining visa-free access to other countries.

Security and Technological Improvements

The Indian passport remains vulnerable to security threats. In 2024, law enforcement arrested over two hundred individuals for suspected visa and passport fraud. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures with lengthy timelines of visa processing.

The diplomat indicated that new technologies, like India's recently-launched electronic passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and ease the immigration process. The e-passport contains a small chip that stores biometric information, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the passport.

But, increased diplomatic efforts and travel agreements remain key for enhancing international travel freedom for Indian citizens and consequently, India's passport ranking.