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Earlier this year, an online clip by a popular travel content creator expressing frustration over India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

The influencer stated although nearby nations such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access of travelers from India, obtaining visas to travel to many nations in Europe and the West remained a challenge.

Such concerns with the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation 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 have not issued a statement regarding these findings yet.

Nations including Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size than India – a nation that is the fifth-largest economy globally – hold better positions on the index in the seventies range, respectively.

In fact, India's rank in the past decade has hovered around the eighties, falling to the 90th spot two years ago. These rankings are dismal when measured against other Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, which have consistently held leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Measures

The power of a passport reflects a nation's soft power and global influence. This leads to better mobility for its citizens, improving commercial and learning opportunities. Limited passport power means additional documentation, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

But despite the decline in the rank, the count of nations providing visa-free travel for Indian citizens has grown over the last ten years.

As an instance, eight years ago – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party came to power – 52 countries offered visa-free access for Indian passport holders with the passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

A year later, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then rose to eightieth over the past two years, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot this year. Meanwhile, 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 count of nations allowing visa-free entry in 2025 (57) exceeds what it was eight years ago (52), but India's rank for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Analysts note that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – meaning nations are forming more travel partnerships for their populations' advantage and their economies. As per a 2025 report, the worldwide mean number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to 109 in 2025.

As an illustration, China has increased the number of visa-free countries its citizens can travel to from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. As a result, its rank on the index has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth in that same duration.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – previously positioned at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place in October following the loss of two nations.

Other Influences Impacting Passport Power

A former Indian ambassador says multiple elements influencing the strength of a country's passport, including its economic and political stability plus its receptiveness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For instance, the US passport has dropped out of the top 10 and now occupies twelfth place – its lowest ever – because of its more inward-looking approach in global affairs.

The former ambassador recalls how in the 1970s, Indians enjoyed visa-free travel to numerous European and Western nations, though this shifted following Khalistan movement during the eighties. Later political disturbances have further chipped away the country's reputation as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are also becoming increasingly wary regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "India has a large quantity of citizens emigrating to other countries or remaining beyond visa limits affecting the country's reputation."

Factors such as the security level of a national passport and its immigration procedures also play a role in gaining visa-free entry to foreign nations.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport faces ongoing security risks. Last year, authorities arrested 203 people for alleged visa and passport fraud. The country also has complex immigration processes and a slow pace of visa processing.

The former ambassador indicated that technological advances, such as the newly introduced digital passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and ease the immigration process. This electronic document contains a small chip holding biometric information, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the document.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel agreements continue essential for enhancing the global mobility of Indians and consequently, India's passport ranking.