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Earlier this year, a video from an Indian travel influencer complaining about India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned although neighbouring countries such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access of Indian tourists, obtaining visas to travel to most Western and European countries remained a challenge.

Such concerns regarding India's poor passport strength was reflected in the latest global passport ranking, ranking the country in the 85th spot out of 199 countries, a decline of five positions than last year.

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

Nations including Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size than India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – hold better positions on the index in the seventies range, respectively.

Actually, India's rank over the last ten years has remained around the eighties, even dipping to ninetieth place two years ago. These rankings appear poor compared to Asian nations like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, all maintaining top positions.

What Passport Strength Measures

The power of a passport indicates a nation's soft power and international standing. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, improving commercial and learning opportunities. Limited passport power results in more paperwork, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and extended processing periods when journeying.

But despite the drop in position, the number of countries providing visa-free travel to Indians has grown over the last ten years.

As an instance, eight years ago – when the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – 52 countries offered visa-free access for Indian passport holders with the passport ranked 76th on the index.

The following year, it fell to the 85th position, then improved to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot this year. At the same time, countries allowing visa-free travel for Indians increased from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and sixty-two this year.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of visa-free destinations in 2025 (57) exceeds the number in 2015 (52), but India's rank for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. So, why is that?

Experts say that a major reason is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – meaning countries are entering into additional travel agreements for their populations' advantage and economic growth. According to recent analysis, the global average 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, The Chinese passport has increased its count of visa-free destinations available to its citizens from 50 to 82 over the last ten years. As a result, its rank in the ranking has enhanced from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – previously positioned at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place in October following the loss of two nations.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

A former Indian ambassador says there are other factors that affect the strength of a country's passport, including economic and political conditions plus its receptiveness to accepting travelers from other countries.

For example, the US passport has dropped out of the top 10 and now occupies the 12th position – a historic low – because of its increasingly insular stance in world politics.

The diplomat mentioned that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free travel to numerous European and Western nations, though this shifted after the Khalistan movement in the 1980s. Later political disturbances have continued to damage at India's image as a stable, democratic country.

"Many countries are also becoming increasingly wary regarding migrants," he stated. "The country possesses a large quantity of citizens emigrating overseas or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the national image."

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

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport faces ongoing security threats. Last year, authorities detained 203 people for alleged passport and visa irregularities. The country also has complex immigration processes with lengthy timelines for visa approvals.

The diplomat indicated that new technologies, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and streamline immigration. This electronic document includes a microchip holding biometric data, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the passport.

But, more diplomatic outreach and travel partnerships continue essential for enhancing the global mobility of Indians and, by extension, the Indian passport's global position.