🔗 Share this article

Earlier this year, an online clip from a popular travel content creator expressing frustration over India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned that while nearby nations such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access of Indian tourists, obtaining visas for visiting most Western and European countries continued to be difficult.

This dissatisfaction regarding India's poor passport strength was reflected in recent Henley Passport Index, ranking the country at position eighty-five among 199 countries, a decline of five positions than last year.

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

Nations like Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size compared to India – which is the world's fifth biggest economy – hold better positions on the index in the seventies range, in that order.

Actually, the country's position in the past decade has hovered around the eighties, even dipping to the 90th spot in 2021. These rankings are dismal when measured against Asian nations like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, which have consistently held leading ranks.

Global Passport Power Measures

The power of a passport reflects a country's global influence and global influence. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport means additional documentation, increased visa expenses, fewer travel privileges and extended processing periods when journeying.

However, even with the drop in position, the count of nations 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 provided visa-free travel for Indian passport holders with the passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

A year later, it tumbled to eighty-fifth place, then improved to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the 85th position this year. At the same time, 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 visa-free destinations this year (57) is higher than the number eight years ago (fifty-two), but the country's position for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Analysts note that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in international travel – indicating that nations are entering into additional travel agreements for their populations' advantage and economic growth. According to a 2025 report, the global average number of destinations people can visit visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2025.

For example, The Chinese passport has expanded the number of visa-free destinations its citizens can travel to from 50 to 82 in the past decade. As a result, its position in the ranking has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth during the same time period.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked 77th on the index during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place in October following the loss to two countries.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India says multiple elements that affect the strength of a country's passport, like its economic and political stability plus its openness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For instance, the US passport has dropped out from the top ten currently holding twelfth place – its lowest ever – due to its more inward-looking approach in world politics.

The diplomat recalls how in the 1970s, Indians enjoyed 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 the country's reputation as a stable, democratic country.

"Numerous nations are growing increasingly wary of immigrants," he stated. "The country possesses a high number of people migrating overseas or overstaying their visas affecting the country's reputation."

Elements such as the security level a country's passport is and immigration processes also play a role in gaining visa-free access to foreign nations.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport faces ongoing security risks. In 2024, law enforcement arrested 203 people for suspected visa and passport fraud. The country also has complex immigration processes and a slow pace for visa approvals.

The former ambassador says that technological advances, like India's recently-launched digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport contains a microchip holding biometric data, making it harder to forge or tamper with the document.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel partnerships continue essential for enhancing the global mobility of Indians and, by extension, the Indian passport's global position.