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Earlier this year, a video from an Indian travel influencer expressing frustration over the limited power of the Indian passport went viral across digital platforms.

He mentioned that while nearby nations like Sri Lanka and Bhutan offered easier access to travelers from India, securing travel permits for visiting most Western and European countries remained a challenge.

This dissatisfaction regarding India's poor passport strength was reflected in recent global passport ranking, which placed the country in the 85th spot out of 199 countries, a decline of five positions compared to the previous year.

The Indian government has not commented regarding these findings so far.

Nations including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies than India – which is the fifth-largest economy globally – hold better positions on the index in the seventies range, in that order.

In fact, India's rank in the past decade has hovered in the 80s, even dipping to the 90th spot two years ago. These rankings appear poor when measured against Asian nations such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, which have consistently held top positions.

What Passport Strength Indicates

The power of a passport indicates a country's global influence and international standing. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, boosting business and learning opportunities. Limited passport power means additional documentation, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

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

For example, in 2014 – when the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – fifty-two nations offered visa-free travel to Indians with the passport at seventy-sixth position on the index.

The following year, it tumbled to eighty-fifth place, then rose to eightieth over the past two years, dropping again to the 85th position this year. Meanwhile, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens increased from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and sixty-two this year.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The count of visa-free destinations this year (57) exceeds what it was eight years ago (52), but the country's position for both these years is 85. So, why is that?

Analysts note that a major reason is the increasingly competitive landscape in international travel – indicating that countries are forming additional travel agreements for their populations' advantage and economic growth. According to recent analysis, the worldwide mean number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free has almost doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

For example, The Chinese passport 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 position in the ranking has improved from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked 77th on the index in July – fell to eighty-fifth place this autumn following the loss to two countries.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

A former Indian ambassador says there are other factors that affect a nation's passport power, like its economic and political stability plus its receptiveness to welcoming citizens from abroad.

For instance, the American passport has fallen of the top 10 and now occupies the 12th position – a historic low – due to its more inward-looking approach in world politics.

The diplomat mentioned how in the 1970s, Indians enjoyed visa-free access to numerous European and Western nations, but that changed following Khalistan movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have continued to damage the country's reputation as a stable, democratic country.

"Numerous nations are also becoming more cautious regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "The country possesses a high number of citizens emigrating to other countries or remaining beyond visa limits affecting the country's reputation."

Elements such as the security level a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also play a role in gaining visa-free access to foreign nations.

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport faces ongoing security threats. In 2024, law enforcement arrested over two hundred individuals for alleged visa and passport fraud. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures with lengthy timelines of visa processing.

The diplomat says that new technologies, such as the newly introduced digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and streamline immigration. The e-passport includes a microchip holding biometric data, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the document.

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