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In recent months, a video from a popular travel content creator expressing frustration over India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned although nearby nations like Sri Lanka and Bhutan were more welcoming to Indian tourists, obtaining visas for visiting most Western and European countries remained a challenge.

This dissatisfaction regarding the limited global access of Indian passports was reflected in recent global passport ranking, which placed India at position eighty-five out of nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

The Indian government has not commented regarding these findings yet.

Nations including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies compared to India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – are ranked higher on the index in the seventies range, in that order.

In fact, India's rank over the last ten years has remained in the 80s, even dipping to the 90th spot in 2021. Such standings appear poor when measured against other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held top positions.

Global Passport Power Measures

The power of a passport indicates a nation's soft power and international standing. It also translates into better mobility for its citizens, improving commercial and educational prospects. A weak passport results in additional documentation, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times when journeying.

However, even with the decline in the rank, the number of countries providing visa-free travel for Indian citizens has actually increased in the past decade or so.

For example, in 2014 – the year the current administration's ruling party came to power – 52 countries offered visa-free access to Indians with the passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

The following year, it tumbled to the 85th position, then rose to 80th in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the 85th position this year. Meanwhile, visa-free destinations for Indians grew from fifty-two eight years ago to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The number of nations allowing visa-free entry this year (57) exceeds the number in 2015 (52), yet India's rank for both these years is 85. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a major reason is the increasingly competitive landscape in international travel – meaning nations are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and their economies. According to a 2025 report, the worldwide mean number of destinations people can visit without visas has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

For example, China has increased the number of visa-free destinations its citizens can travel to from 50 to 82 in the past decade. As a result, its position on the index has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth during the same time period.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – which was ranked at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place in October after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

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

For instance, the US 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, Indians enjoyed visa-free travel to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Khalistan movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have continued to damage at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Numerous nations are growing increasingly wary regarding migrants," he stated. "India has a large quantity of people migrating to other countries 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 in gaining visa-free access to other countries.

Enhanced Security Measures

India's passport faces ongoing security threats. In 2024, authorities arrested over two hundred individuals for suspected passport and visa irregularities. India is also known for complex immigration processes and a slow pace for visa approvals.

The diplomat says that new technologies, like India's recently-launched electronic passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport contains a small chip that stores biometric information, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the passport.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements continue essential for enhancing international travel freedom of Indians and, by extension, India's passport ranking.