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Earlier this year, an online clip by a popular travel content creator expressing frustration over the limited power of the Indian passport gained massive traction on social media.

He mentioned although nearby nations such as Sri Lanka and Bhutan offered easier access of Indian tourists, obtaining visas for visiting many nations in Europe and the West continued to be difficult.

This dissatisfaction with the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in recent Henley Passport Index, ranking India at position eighty-five out of nearly two hundred nations, a decline of five positions than last year.

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

Countries including Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size compared to India – a nation that is the fifth-largest economy globally – hold better positions in the ranking in the seventies range, in that order.

In fact, India's rank in the past decade has hovered around the eighties, even dipping to the 90th spot two years ago. Such standings appear poor compared to other Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, which have consistently held leading ranks.

Global Passport Power Measures

Passport strength reflects a country's global influence and international standing. This leads to 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 longer waiting times for travel.

However, even with the drop in position, the number of countries providing visa-free travel to Indians has actually increased in the past decade or so.

For example, eight years ago – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office – fifty-two nations provided visa-free travel for Indian passport holders with the passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

The following year, it tumbled to eighty-fifth place, then improved to eightieth over the past two years, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot currently. At the same time, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens increased from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and sixty-two this year.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of visa-free destinations this year (fifty-seven) is higher than what it was in 2015 (52), but India's rank for both these years is 85. So, why is that?

Experts say that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – meaning 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 nearly doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

For example, The Chinese passport has increased the number of visa-free destinations available to its citizens 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 in October following the loss of two nations.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

An ex-diplomat from India says multiple elements that affect a nation's passport power, including economic and political conditions plus its openness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For example, the American passport has dropped out of the top 10 currently holding the 12th position – its lowest ever – because of its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The diplomat recalls that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free travel to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Numerous nations are growing more cautious of immigrants," he stated. "The country possesses a high number of people migrating to other countries or overstaying their visas affecting the country's reputation."

Elements such as the security level of a national passport and immigration processes also play a role to obtaining visa-free entry to other countries.

Security and Technological Improvements

The Indian passport remains vulnerable to security threats. In 2024, law enforcement arrested over two hundred individuals for alleged passport and visa irregularities. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures and a slow pace for visa approvals.

The diplomat indicated that technological advances, like India's recently-launched electronic passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and streamline immigration. This electronic document includes a small chip holding biometric data, making it harder to counterfeit or alter the document.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel partnerships continue essential to boosting international travel freedom of Indians and, by extension, the Indian passport's global position.