🔗 Share this article

Earlier this year, a video from a popular travel content creator expressing frustration over India's weak passport went viral across digital platforms.

He mentioned that while nearby nations such as Sri Lanka and Bhutan offered easier access to travelers from India, securing travel permits to travel to many nations in Europe and the West remained a challenge.

Such concerns regarding India's poor passport strength found confirmation in the latest global passport ranking, ranking the country at position eighty-five out of nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

The Indian government have not issued a statement on the report yet.

Countries like Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size than India – which is the fifth-largest economy globally – are ranked higher on the index in the seventies range, in that order.

Actually, the country's position in the past decade has hovered around the eighties, falling to ninetieth place in 2021. Such standings are dismal compared to Asian nations like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining top positions.

What Passport Strength Measures

The power of a passport reflects a nation's soft power and international standing. It also translates into better mobility for its citizens, improving commercial and educational prospects. A weak passport results in more paperwork, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and extended processing periods when journeying.

But despite the decline in the rank, the count of nations offering visa-free access to Indians has actually increased over the last ten years.

For example, in 2014 – when the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – 52 countries offered visa-free travel for Indian passport holders with the passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

The following year, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then rose to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot this year. At the same time, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens grew from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and sixty-two this year.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The number of nations allowing visa-free entry this year (fifty-seven) is higher than the number in 2015 (52), but India's rank for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. So, why is that?

Analysts note that a major reason involves growing competition in international travel – indicating that countries are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and their economies. As per recent analysis, the global average number of destinations travellers are able to access without visas has almost doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

For example, The Chinese passport has increased its count of visa-free countries available to its citizens from fifty to eighty-two over the last ten years. Consequently, its position in the ranking has enhanced from ninety-fourth to sixtieth during the same time period.

In comparison, India – which was ranked at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place in October following the loss of two nations.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

A former Indian ambassador notes there are other factors that affect the strength of a country's passport, like its economic and political stability plus its openness to welcoming citizens from abroad.

For example, the American passport has fallen of the top 10 currently holding the 12th position – a historic low – because of its more inward-looking approach in world politics.

The diplomat mentioned that during the seventies, Indians enjoyed visa-free access to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Khalistan movement in the 1980s. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away the country's reputation as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are also becoming increasingly wary of immigrants," he stated. "The country possesses a large quantity of citizens emigrating overseas or remaining beyond visa limits and that interferes with the country's reputation."

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

Enhanced Security Measures

India's passport faces ongoing security threats. In 2024, authorities detained 203 people for suspected visa and passport fraud. The country also has complex immigration processes with lengthy timelines of visa processing.

The diplomat indicated that technological advances, such as the newly introduced digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport contains a microchip holding biometric data, making it harder to counterfeit or alter the passport.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements continue essential to boosting international travel freedom of Indians and consequently, India's passport ranking.