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

He mentioned that while neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access to travelers from India, securing travel permits to travel to most Western and European countries continued to be difficult.

This dissatisfaction regarding the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in recent Henley Passport Index, which placed the country at position eighty-five out of 199 countries, a decline of five positions compared to the previous year.

Officials in India has not commented on the report yet.

Nations including Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies than India – a nation that is the fifth-largest economy globally – hold better positions on the index at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

Actually, India's rank over the last ten years has remained around the eighties, falling to ninetieth place in 2021. These rankings appear poor when measured against other Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining top positions.

Global Passport Power Indicates

Passport strength indicates a country's global influence and international standing. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for passport holders, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in more paperwork, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and extended processing periods when journeying.

However, even with the decline in the rank, the count of nations providing visa-free travel to Indians has actually increased in the past decade or so.

For example, in 2014 – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – 52 countries offered visa-free travel for Indian passport holders and its passport ranked 76th on the index.

The following year, it fell to the 85th position, then rose to 80th over the past two years, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot this year. Meanwhile, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens increased from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of visa-free destinations this year (57) exceeds the number eight years ago (52), but the country's position for both these years is 85. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a primary factor involves growing competition in international travel – meaning nations are entering into more travel partnerships for their populations' advantage and their economies. As per recent analysis, the worldwide mean count of countries people can visit without visas has nearly doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

As an illustration, China has expanded its count of visa-free countries its citizens can travel to from 50 to 82 in the past decade. Consequently, its rank on the index has enhanced from ninety-fourth to sixtieth in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked at seventy-seventh place during summer – fell to eighty-fifth place this autumn following the loss of two nations.

Other Influences Affecting Passport Strength

An ex-diplomat from India notes multiple elements influencing a nation's passport power, including economic and political conditions plus its openness to accepting travelers from other countries.

For example, the American passport has fallen from the top ten currently holding twelfth place – a historic low – because of its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The diplomat recalls 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 at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are growing increasingly wary of immigrants," he stated. "India has a high number of citizens emigrating to other countries or overstaying their visas affecting the national image."

Elements like how secure a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also contribute to obtaining visa-free entry to other countries.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport remains vulnerable to security threats. In 2024, authorities arrested over two hundred individuals for suspected passport and visa irregularities. India is also known for complex immigration processes with lengthy timelines for visa approvals.

The diplomat indicated that new technologies, like India's recently-launched digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and streamline immigration. The e-passport contains a small chip that stores biometric data, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the document.

But, more diplomatic outreach and travel partnerships continue essential to boosting the global mobility for Indian citizens and consequently, the Indian passport's global position.