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In recent months, a video from a popular travel content creator complaining about India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned although nearby nations such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access to travelers from India, securing travel permits to travel to many nations in Europe and the West continued to be difficult.

Such concerns with India's poor passport strength found confirmation in the latest Henley Passport Index, ranking the country 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 so far.

Countries like Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size compared to India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – are ranked higher in the ranking in the seventies range, respectively.

In fact, the country's position over the last ten years has hovered in the 80s, even dipping to the 90th spot two years ago. These rankings appear poor compared to other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held leading ranks.

Global Passport Power Indicates

Passport strength indicates a nation's soft power and global influence. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in more paperwork, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

But despite the drop in position, the number of countries providing visa-free travel to Indians has actually increased in the past decade or so.

For example, in 2014 – the year the current administration's ruling party came to power – fifty-two nations offered visa-free travel to Indians and its passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

A year later, it tumbled to eighty-fifth place, then rose to eightieth over the past two years, declining once more to the 85th position this year. At the same time, visa-free destinations to Indian citizens grew from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and sixty-two this year.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of visa-free destinations in 2025 (fifty-seven) is higher than what it was eight years ago (52), but India's rank for both these years is 85. So, why is that?

Analysts note that a primary factor involves growing competition in global mobility – indicating that nations are entering into more travel partnerships for their populations' advantage and economic growth. According to recent analysis, the worldwide mean count of countries people can visit without visas has almost doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

For example, The Chinese passport has expanded its count of visa-free destinations available to its citizens from fifty to eighty-two over the last ten years. As a result, its position in the ranking has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth during the same time period.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – which was ranked 77th on the index in July – fell to the 85th position in October following the loss to two countries.

Other Influences Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India says multiple elements influencing the strength of a country's passport, including economic and political conditions plus its receptiveness to welcoming citizens from abroad.

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

The diplomat recalls how in the 1970s, Indians enjoyed visa-free access to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Khalistan movement during the eighties. Later political disturbances have continued to damage the country's reputation as a stable, democratic country.

"Many countries are also becoming increasingly wary regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "India has a high number of people migrating overseas or overstaying their visas affecting the country's reputation."

Elements like the security level a country's passport is and immigration processes also play a role in gaining visa-free entry to other countries.

Enhanced Security Measures

India's passport faces ongoing security risks. In 2024, law enforcement arrested 203 people for alleged passport and visa irregularities. India is also known for cumbersome immigration procedures and a slow pace of visa processing.

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

But, increased diplomatic efforts and travel agreements remain key for enhancing the global mobility for Indian citizens and, by extension, India's passport ranking.