🔗 Share this article

Earlier this year, a video by a popular travel content creator expressing frustration over the limited power of the Indian passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned although nearby nations such as Sri Lanka and Bhutan were more welcoming to Indian tourists, obtaining visas for visiting many nations in Europe and the West remained a challenge.

This dissatisfaction with the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in the latest Henley Passport Index, ranking India in the 85th spot out of 199 countries, five spots lower than last year.

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

Nations including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies compared to India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – are ranked higher on the index in the seventies range, in that order.

Actually, India's rank in the past decade has remained around the eighties, falling to the 90th spot in 2021. Such standings are dismal compared to other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, all maintaining leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Indicates

Passport strength indicates a nation's soft power and global influence. This leads to better mobility for passport holders, boosting business and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in more paperwork, increased visa expenses, fewer travel privileges and extended processing periods when journeying.

But despite the drop in position, the count of nations offering visa-free access for Indian citizens has actually increased over the last ten years.

For example, eight years ago – when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – fifty-two nations provided visa-free access to Indians and its passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

The following year, it tumbled to the 85th position, then improved to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, dropping again to the 85th position this year. 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 count of nations allowing visa-free entry in 2025 (fifty-seven) exceeds the number eight years ago (fifty-two), yet India's rank for both these years is 85. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – indicating that countries are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and economic growth. According to a 2025 report, the global average count of countries people can visit without visas has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to 109 in 2025.

For example, China has increased the number of visa-free countries available to its citizens from 50 to 82 over the last ten years. Consequently, its position in the ranking has enhanced from 94th to 60th during the same time period.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked 77th on the index during summer – dropped to the 85th position in October following the loss to two countries.

Other Influences Affecting Passport Strength

A former Indian ambassador says there are other factors influencing the strength of a country's passport, including economic and political conditions as well as its openness to accepting travelers from other countries.

For example, the American passport has dropped out of the top 10 currently holding twelfth place – a historic low – due to its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The former ambassador mentioned that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free access to many Western and European countries, but that changed following Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away the country's reputation as a stable democracy.

"Numerous nations are also becoming more cautious of immigrants," the diplomat added. "India has a large quantity of citizens emigrating to other countries or overstaying their visas affecting the national image."

Factors like the security level a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also contribute in gaining visa-free entry to other countries.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport faces ongoing security risks. Last year, authorities detained over two hundred individuals for suspected visa and passport fraud. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures with lengthy timelines for visa approvals.

The former ambassador says that new technologies, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport includes a microchip holding biometric data, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the passport.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel partnerships continue essential for enhancing international travel freedom for Indian citizens and consequently, India's passport ranking.