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In recent months, a video from an Indian travel influencer complaining about India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned although neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming to Indian tourists, securing travel permits to travel to many nations in Europe and the West remained a challenge.

This dissatisfaction regarding India's poor passport strength found confirmation in the latest global passport ranking, which placed the country in the 85th spot among 199 countries, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

Officials in India has not commented regarding these findings yet.

Countries like Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies than India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – hold better positions on the index in the seventies range, in that order.

Actually, India's rank in the past decade has remained in the 80s, even dipping to ninetieth place in 2021. These rankings are dismal compared to Asian nations like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Measures

The power of a passport indicates a nation's soft power and international standing. This leads to better mobility for passport holders, boosting business and learning opportunities. Limited passport power results in more paperwork, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and extended processing periods for travel.

But despite the drop in position, the count of nations providing visa-free travel to Indians has actually increased in the past decade or so.

For example, in 2014 – when Prime Minister Narendra Modi'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.

The following year, it fell to the 85th position, then improved to 80th in 2023 and 2024, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot currently. At the same time, visa-free destinations for Indians grew from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

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

Analysts note that a primary factor involves growing competition in global mobility – indicating that nations are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and their economies. As per recent analysis, the global average count of countries people can visit without visas has nearly doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to 109 in 2025.

As an illustration, The Chinese passport has increased its count of visa-free destinations available to its citizens from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. Consequently, its position in the ranking has enhanced from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

In comparison, India – which was ranked 77th on the index in July – fell to eighty-fifth place in October following the loss of two nations.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

A former Indian ambassador notes multiple elements that affect a nation's passport power, like economic and political conditions plus its receptiveness to welcoming citizens from other countries.

For example, the American passport has dropped out from the top ten and now occupies the 12th position – a historic low – because of its more inward-looking approach in global affairs.

The diplomat recalls how in the 1970s, Indian citizens had visa-free access to numerous European and Western nations, though this shifted following Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Numerous nations are also becoming more cautious regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "India has a large quantity of citizens emigrating overseas or remaining beyond visa limits and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Elements like how secure a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also play a role to obtaining visa-free entry to foreign nations.

Enhanced Security Measures

India's passport remains vulnerable to security threats. Last year, authorities detained 203 people 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, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and ease the immigration process. This electronic document includes a microchip holding biometric data, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the passport.

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