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Earlier this year, an online clip by a popular travel content creator complaining about India's weak passport gained massive traction on social media.

The influencer stated that while neighbouring countries such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access to travelers from India, securing travel permits to travel to many nations in Europe and the West remained a challenge.

Such concerns with the limited global access of Indian passports was reflected in the latest global passport ranking, ranking India at position eighty-five among nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

Officials in India has not commented regarding these findings yet.

Countries 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 in the seventies range, respectively.

Actually, India's rank over the last ten years has remained in the 80s, falling to the 90th spot two years ago. These rankings appear poor when measured against Asian nations such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, all maintaining leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Measures

Passport strength indicates a nation's soft power and global influence. It also translates into better mobility for passport holders, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in more paperwork, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and extended processing periods when journeying.

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

As an instance, eight years ago – the year the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office – 52 countries provided visa-free access to Indians with the passport at seventy-sixth position on the index.

A year later, it tumbled to eighty-fifth place, then improved to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot this year. At the same time, visa-free destinations to Indian citizens grew from fifty-two eight years ago to sixty last year and sixty-two this year.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of nations allowing visa-free entry this year (57) exceeds what it was in 2015 (fifty-two), but the country's position during both periods remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a major reason is the increasingly competitive landscape in international travel – indicating that countries are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and economic growth. As per recent analysis, the worldwide mean count of countries travellers are able to access visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to 109 in 2025.

For example, China has expanded the number of visa-free countries available to its citizens from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. As a result, its rank on the index has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – previously positioned at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to the 85th position this autumn following the loss of two nations.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

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

For instance, the US passport has dropped out of the top 10 and now occupies twelfth place – a historic low – due to its more inward-looking approach in global affairs.

The former ambassador mentioned that during the seventies, Indians enjoyed visa-free travel to many Western and European countries, but that changed following Khalistan movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have continued to damage the country's reputation as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are growing more cautious regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "The country possesses a large quantity of citizens emigrating to other countries or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the national image."

Elements like how secure a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also contribute in gaining visa-free access to other countries.

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport faces ongoing security threats. Last year, law enforcement arrested 203 people for suspected visa and passport fraud. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures and a slow pace of visa processing.

The former ambassador says that new technologies, like India's recently-launched electronic passport or e-passport, can improve security and streamline immigration. This electronic document contains a small chip that stores biometric data, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the passport.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements remain key to boosting the global mobility of Indians and consequently, the Indian passport's global position.