🔗 Share this article

Earlier this year, a video by a popular travel content creator complaining about India's weak passport went viral on social media.

The influencer stated that while nearby nations like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming of Indian tourists, obtaining visas to travel to many nations in Europe and the West remained a challenge.

This dissatisfaction with India's poor passport strength found confirmation in recent Henley Passport Index, which placed India at position eighty-five among 199 countries, five spots lower than last year.

The Indian government have not issued a statement regarding these findings so far.

Countries including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size compared to India – which is the world's fifth biggest economy – hold better positions in the ranking in the seventies range, respectively.

Actually, the country's position in the past decade has hovered in the 80s, falling to the 90th spot two years ago. These rankings appear poor when measured against Asian nations such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining top positions.

What Passport Strength Indicates

Passport strength indicates a country's global influence and global influence. It also translates into better mobility for passport holders, boosting business and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in more paperwork, higher visa costs, fewer travel privileges and extended processing periods when journeying.

But despite the drop in position, the count of nations providing visa-free travel for Indian citizens has actually increased in the past decade or so.

For example, in 2014 – when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party came to power – 52 countries offered visa-free travel to Indians with the passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

The following year, it tumbled to eighty-fifth place, then rose to 80th over the past two years, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot currently. Meanwhile, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens increased from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The count of nations allowing visa-free entry in 2025 (57) exceeds the number in 2015 (52), but the country's position during both periods is 85. What explains this situation?

Experts say 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 a 2025 report, the global average number of destinations people can visit without visas has nearly doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

For example, China has expanded its count of visa-free countries available to its citizens from fifty to eighty-two over the last ten years. As a result, its rank on the index has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth during the same time period.

In comparison, The Indian passport – previously positioned 77th on the index in July – dropped to eighty-fifth place in October after losing access to two countries.

Other Influences Impacting Passport Power

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

For instance, the American passport has dropped out of the top 10 and now occupies twelfth place – its lowest ever – due to its more inward-looking approach in global affairs.

The former ambassador mentioned that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free access to numerous European and Western nations, but that changed following Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Later political disturbances have further chipped away the country's reputation as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are growing increasingly wary regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "The country possesses a large quantity of citizens emigrating overseas or overstaying their visas affecting the national image."

Elements like the security level a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also play a role to obtaining visa-free access to foreign nations.

Security and Technological Improvements

The Indian passport faces ongoing security risks. Last year, authorities detained over two hundred individuals for alleged passport and visa irregularities. The country also has complex immigration processes and a slow pace of visa processing.

The diplomat indicated that new technologies, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and ease the immigration process. The e-passport includes a microchip holding biometric information, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the document.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel partnerships continue essential for enhancing international travel freedom of Indians and, by extension, India's passport ranking.