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

The influencer stated that while nearby nations such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access to Indian tourists, obtaining visas to travel to many nations in Europe and the West continued to be difficult.

Such concerns with the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in recent global passport ranking, ranking India in the 85th spot among 199 countries, a decline of five positions compared to the previous year.

Officials in India have not issued a statement regarding these findings yet.

Countries including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies compared to India – a nation that is the fifth-largest economy globally – are ranked higher in the ranking at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

Actually, the country's position in the past decade has hovered around the eighties, even dipping to ninetieth place in 2021. These rankings appear poor compared to other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held top positions.

Global Passport Power Measures

Passport strength indicates a nation's soft power and international standing. It also translates into better mobility for its citizens, boosting business and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in additional documentation, higher visa costs, fewer travel privileges and longer waiting times when journeying.

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

For example, eight years ago – when the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office – 52 countries offered visa-free travel to Indians with the passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

A year later, it tumbled to the 85th position, then rose 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 grew from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of nations allowing visa-free entry this year (fifty-seven) is higher than the number in 2015 (fifty-two), but 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 international travel – meaning nations are entering into additional travel agreements to benefit their citizens and economic growth. According to recent analysis, the global average number of destinations people can visit visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

For example, The Chinese passport has expanded the number of visa-free destinations its citizens can travel to from fifty to eighty-two over the last ten years. As a result, its rank in the ranking has improved from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, India – previously positioned at seventy-seventh place in July – dropped to the 85th position in October after losing access of two nations.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India notes multiple elements that affect a nation's passport power, including economic and political conditions as well as its openness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For instance, the US passport has fallen from the top ten currently holding twelfth place – a historic low – because of its increasingly insular stance in world politics.

The former ambassador mentioned that during the seventies, Indians enjoyed visa-free access to numerous European and Western nations, though this shifted following Khalistan movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are also becoming increasingly wary of immigrants," the diplomat added. "The country possesses a high number of people migrating overseas or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Factors like how secure a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also contribute to obtaining visa-free access to other countries.

Security and Technological Improvements

The Indian passport faces ongoing security risks. Last year, law enforcement detained 203 people for suspected visa and passport fraud. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures and a slow pace of visa processing.

The diplomat says that new technologies, like India's recently-launched digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport contains a small chip that stores biometric data, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the passport.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel agreements remain key for enhancing international travel freedom for Indian citizens and consequently, India's passport ranking.