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In recent months, an online clip from an Indian travel influencer complaining about the limited power of the Indian passport gained massive traction on social media.

He mentioned although neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming of travelers from India, securing travel permits for visiting many nations in Europe and the West continued to be difficult.

Such concerns with the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in the latest global passport ranking, ranking the country in the 85th spot out of 199 countries, a decline of five positions compared to the previous year.

Officials in India have not issued a statement regarding these findings yet.

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

Actually, the country's position over the last ten years has remained around the eighties, falling to ninetieth place in 2021. Such standings are dismal when measured against Asian nations like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining leading ranks.

Global Passport Power Indicates

Passport strength indicates a country's global influence and global influence. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, boosting business and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in more paperwork, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and extended processing periods for travel.

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

As an instance, eight years ago – the year the current administration's ruling party assumed office – 52 countries offered visa-free access for Indian passport holders with the passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

The following year, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then rose to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot currently. Meanwhile, countries allowing visa-free travel for Indians increased from fifty-two eight years ago to 60 in 2023 and sixty-two this year.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The number of nations allowing visa-free entry this year (fifty-seven) is higher than the number in 2015 (fifty-two), yet India's rank during both periods is 85. What explains this situation?

Analysts note that a major reason involves growing competition in international travel – meaning nations are forming additional travel agreements to benefit their citizens and their economies. As per recent analysis, the global average count of countries people can visit visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

For example, 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 on the index has improved from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked at seventy-seventh place in July – dropped to eighty-fifth place this autumn following the loss to two countries.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

A former Indian ambassador says multiple elements that affect the strength of a country's passport, including economic and political conditions as well as its openness to welcoming citizens from abroad.

For example, 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 world politics.

The diplomat mentioned that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free access to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Khalistan movement during the eighties. Later political disturbances have further chipped away the country's reputation as a stable democracy.

"Numerous nations are growing increasingly wary regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "The country possesses a high number of people migrating overseas or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Factors such as the security level a country's passport is and immigration processes 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, authorities detained over two hundred individuals for alleged passport and visa irregularities. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures with lengthy timelines of visa processing.

The diplomat indicated that new technologies, such as the newly introduced digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. This electronic document includes a microchip that stores biometric information, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the passport.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel partnerships continue essential to boosting the global mobility for Indian citizens and, by extension, India's passport ranking.