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Earlier this year, an online clip by an Indian travel influencer complaining about the limited power of the Indian passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

The influencer stated that while neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Bhutan were more welcoming to travelers from India, obtaining visas for visiting most Western and European countries remained a challenge.

Such concerns with India's poor passport strength found confirmation in recent global passport ranking, which placed the country in the 85th spot among 199 countries, five spots lower than last year.

The Indian government have not issued a statement on the report so far.

Nations including Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies than India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – hold better positions in the ranking at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

In fact, India's rank in the past decade has remained around the eighties, falling to ninetieth place two years ago. These rankings are dismal when measured against other Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining top positions.

What Passport Strength Indicates

The power of a passport reflects a country's global influence and international standing. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, boosting business and learning opportunities. Limited passport power results in additional documentation, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

However, even with the drop in position, the count of nations offering visa-free access for Indian citizens has actually increased in the past decade or so.

For example, eight years ago – when 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 at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

The following year, it tumbled to the 85th position, then improved to eightieth over the past two years, dropping again 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 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The count of visa-free destinations in 2025 (fifty-seven) exceeds what it was in 2015 (fifty-two), but the country's position for both these years is 85. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – meaning countries are entering into more travel partnerships for their populations' advantage and their economies. As per a 2025 report, the worldwide mean number of destinations people can visit visa-free has nearly doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

As an illustration, The Chinese passport has increased the number of visa-free countries its citizens can travel to from 50 to 82 in the past decade. Consequently, its rank in the ranking has improved from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – previously positioned 77th on the index in July – fell to eighty-fifth place this autumn after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India notes multiple elements that affect the strength of a country's passport, like its economic and political stability plus its openness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For instance, the American passport has fallen from the top ten currently holding the 12th position – a historic low – because of its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The former ambassador recalls how in the 1970s, Indian citizens had visa-free access to many Western and European countries, though this shifted after the Khalistan movement in the 1980s. Later political disturbances have continued to damage at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are growing increasingly wary of immigrants," he stated. "The country possesses a high number of citizens emigrating overseas or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the national image."

Elements such as how secure of a national passport and its immigration procedures also play a role to obtaining visa-free entry to other countries.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport faces ongoing security threats. Last year, law enforcement arrested over two hundred individuals for alleged passport and visa irregularities. The country also has complex immigration processes and a slow pace of visa processing.

The former ambassador indicated that new technologies, like India's recently-launched digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport includes a microchip holding biometric information, making it harder to counterfeit or alter the document.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel partnerships continue essential for enhancing the global mobility of Indians and, by extension, India's passport ranking.