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In recent months, an online clip from an Indian travel influencer expressing frustration over the limited power of the Indian passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned although neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Bhutan offered easier access of travelers from India, securing travel permits for visiting most Western and European countries continued to be difficult.

Such concerns with the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in recent Henley Passport Index, ranking India in the 85th spot among nearly two hundred nations, a decline of five positions compared to the previous year.

Officials in India has not commented regarding these findings so far.

Nations like Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies than India – which is the fifth-largest economy globally – are ranked higher on the index in the seventies range, respectively.

Actually, India's rank in the past decade has hovered in the 80s, even dipping to the 90th spot in 2021. These rankings appear poor compared to other Asian countries like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Indicates

Passport strength reflects a country's global influence and international standing. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, improving commercial and educational prospects. Limited passport power results in more paperwork, increased visa expenses, fewer travel privileges and longer waiting times when journeying.

But despite the drop in position, the count of nations providing visa-free travel to Indians has actually increased over the last ten years.

As an instance, in 2014 – the year the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office – fifty-two nations provided visa-free access for Indian passport holders with the passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

The following year, it fell to the 85th position, then improved to 80th in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the 85th position this year. Meanwhile, visa-free destinations for Indians 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 this year (fifty-seven) exceeds what it was in 2015 (52), but the country's position for both these years is 85. So, why is that?

Experts say that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – meaning nations are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and their economies. According to recent analysis, the global average count of countries people can visit without visas has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

For example, China has expanded its count of visa-free destinations its citizens can travel to from 50 to 82 in the past decade. As a result, its position in the ranking has improved from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – previously positioned at seventy-seventh place during summer – fell to eighty-fifth place this autumn after losing access of two nations.

Other Influences Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India notes multiple elements that affect a nation's passport power, like its economic and political stability as well as its openness to welcoming citizens from abroad.

For example, the US passport has dropped out from the top ten currently holding the 12th position – a historic low – due to its increasingly insular stance in world politics.

The former ambassador mentioned that during the seventies, Indians enjoyed visa-free access to many Western and European countries, though this shifted after the Sikh separatist movement during the eighties. Later political disturbances have continued to damage the country's reputation as a stable, democratic country.

"Numerous nations are growing more cautious of immigrants," the diplomat added. "India has a large quantity of people migrating overseas or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Elements like the security level of a national passport and its immigration procedures also contribute in gaining visa-free entry to foreign nations.

Security and Technological Improvements

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

The former ambassador says that technological advances, like India's recently-launched electronic passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and streamline immigration. The e-passport contains a microchip holding biometric information, making it harder to counterfeit or alter the document.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel partnerships remain key for enhancing the global mobility of Indians and consequently, India's passport ranking.