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Earlier this year, a video by a popular travel content creator complaining about India's weak passport went viral across digital platforms.

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

This dissatisfaction regarding the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in the latest global passport ranking, ranking the country at position eighty-five out of 199 countries, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

Officials in India have not issued a statement on the report so far.

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

Actually, the country's position in the past decade has remained around the eighties, even dipping to ninetieth place two years ago. These rankings are dismal when measured against other Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, which have consistently held top positions.

What Passport Strength Indicates

The power of a passport indicates a nation's soft power and global influence. It also translates into better mobility for its citizens, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport means additional documentation, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and extended processing periods when journeying.

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.

As an instance, in 2014 – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – 52 countries offered visa-free access to Indians and its passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

The following year, it tumbled to the 85th position, then improved to eightieth over the past two years, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot currently. At the same time, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens grew from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and 62 in 2024.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The number of visa-free destinations in 2025 (57) exceeds what it was eight years ago (fifty-two), but India's rank during both periods remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a primary factor involves growing competition in international travel – indicating that countries are entering into additional travel agreements to benefit their citizens and their economies. According to recent analysis, the worldwide mean number of destinations people can visit without visas has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

For example, China has increased the number of visa-free destinations its citizens can travel to from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. As a result, its rank in the ranking has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth during the same time period.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked 77th on the index during summer – fell to eighty-fifth place this autumn following the loss of two nations.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

An ex-diplomat from India says there are other factors influencing a nation's passport power, including economic and political conditions plus its openness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For example, the US passport has fallen from the top ten currently holding the 12th position – a historic low – due to its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The diplomat mentioned how in the 1970s, Indian citizens had visa-free access to numerous European and Western nations, but that changed after the Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away at India's image as a stable, democratic country.

"Numerous nations are also becoming increasingly wary regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "The country possesses a high number of people migrating overseas or overstaying their visas affecting the country's reputation."

Elements such as how secure of a national passport and immigration processes also play a role in gaining visa-free access to foreign nations.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport faces ongoing security threats. Last year, authorities arrested over two hundred individuals for suspected visa and passport fraud. India is also known for complex immigration processes and a slow pace of visa processing.

The diplomat says that technological advances, such as the newly introduced digital passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and streamline immigration. This electronic document contains a small chip holding biometric information, making it harder to forge or tamper with the document.

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