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Earlier this year, a video from an Indian travel influencer complaining about the limited power of the Indian passport gained massive traction on social media.

He mentioned that while nearby nations such as Sri Lanka and Bhutan were more welcoming 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 was reflected in recent global passport ranking, which placed the country at position eighty-five out of nearly two hundred nations, a decline of five positions than last year.

Officials in India has not commented regarding these findings so far.

Nations like Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies compared to India – which is the fifth-largest economy globally – are ranked higher on the index in the seventies range, respectively.

In fact, India's rank over the last ten years has hovered around the eighties, even dipping to ninetieth place two years ago. Such standings are dismal compared to other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held top positions.

What Passport Strength Indicates

Passport strength reflects a country's global influence and global influence. It also translates into better mobility for passport holders, improving commercial and learning opportunities. Limited passport power results in more paperwork, increased visa expenses, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

But despite the decline in the rank, the number of countries providing visa-free travel to Indians has grown in the past decade or so.

For example, in 2014 – the year the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office – 52 countries offered visa-free access to Indians with the passport at seventy-sixth position on the index.

The following year, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then rose to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot this year. At the same time, visa-free destinations to Indian citizens grew from fifty-two eight years ago to sixty last year and sixty-two this year.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The number of visa-free destinations in 2025 (fifty-seven) is higher than the number eight years ago (52), yet the country's position during both periods remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Analysts note that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – indicating that countries are forming more travel partnerships for their populations' advantage and their economies. As per recent analysis, the worldwide mean count of countries travellers are able to access without visas has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2025.

For example, China has increased the number of visa-free countries available to its citizens from 50 to 82 in the past decade. As a result, its rank in the ranking has improved from 94th to 60th during the same time period.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – previously positioned at seventy-seventh place in July – fell to the 85th position in October following the loss to two countries.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

A former Indian ambassador says there are other factors influencing a nation's passport power, like its economic and political stability as well as its openness to welcoming citizens from other countries.

For example, the US passport has dropped out from the top ten currently holding the 12th position – its lowest ever – because of its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The former ambassador recalls that during the seventies, Indians enjoyed visa-free access to numerous European and Western nations, though this shifted after the Khalistan movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have continued to damage the country's reputation as a stable, democratic country.

"Numerous nations are also becoming increasingly wary regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "India has a high number of people migrating overseas or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Factors like the security level of a national passport and its immigration procedures also contribute to obtaining visa-free entry to foreign nations.

Enhanced Security Measures

India's passport faces ongoing security threats. Last year, law enforcement detained 203 people for alleged visa and passport fraud. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures and a slow pace for visa approvals.

The former ambassador 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 includes a microchip holding biometric information, making it harder to forge or tamper with the document.

But, increased diplomatic efforts and travel partnerships remain key to boosting the global mobility for Indian citizens and, by extension, the Indian passport's global position.