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In recent months, a video from a popular travel content creator complaining about the limited power of the Indian passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned that while nearby nations like Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access of travelers from India, obtaining visas to travel to many nations in Europe and the West continued to be difficult.

Such concerns regarding the limited global access of Indian passports was reflected in recent global passport ranking, ranking India at position eighty-five out of nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower than last year.

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

Countries including Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size compared to India – which is the fifth-largest economy globally – hold better positions in the ranking at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

Actually, the country's position in the past decade has remained around the eighties, even dipping to the 90th spot in 2021. These rankings appear poor when measured against Asian nations like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, all maintaining top positions.

What Passport Strength Measures

The power of a passport indicates a country's global influence and international standing. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for passport holders, improving commercial and educational prospects. A weak passport results in more paperwork, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and extended processing periods for travel.

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

As an instance, in 2014 – when the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office – 52 countries provided visa-free travel to Indians with the passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

The following year, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then improved to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, dropping again to the 85th position currently. At the same time, countries allowing visa-free travel for Indians grew from fifty-two eight years ago to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The count of visa-free destinations this year (57) exceeds what it was in 2015 (52), yet India's rank for both these years is 85. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a major reason involves growing competition in global mobility – indicating that countries are entering into additional travel agreements to benefit their citizens and economic growth. According to recent analysis, the global average count of countries travellers are able to access without visas has almost doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

As an illustration, The Chinese passport has expanded the number of visa-free destinations available to its citizens from 50 to 82 over the last ten years. As a result, its position on the index has enhanced from ninety-fourth to sixtieth in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked 77th on the index during summer – dropped to the 85th position this autumn following the loss of two nations.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

A former Indian ambassador says multiple elements influencing a nation's passport power, like its economic and political stability as well as its receptiveness to accepting travelers from other countries.

For instance, the American passport has dropped out from the top ten and now occupies 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 during the eighties. Later political disturbances have continued to damage at India's image as a stable, democratic country.

"Many countries are growing more cautious regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "India has a large quantity of people migrating overseas or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Elements such as how secure a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also contribute to obtaining visa-free access to foreign nations.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport faces ongoing security threats. In 2024, law enforcement arrested 203 people for suspected visa and passport fraud. India is also known for cumbersome immigration procedures and a slow pace for visa approvals.

The former ambassador says that new technologies, such as the newly introduced digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport includes a microchip holding biometric information, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the passport.

But, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements remain key for enhancing the global mobility of Indians and, by extension, India's passport ranking.