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In recent months, a video from an Indian travel influencer expressing frustration over India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned although nearby nations like Bhutan and Sri Lanka offered easier access to Indian tourists, securing travel permits for visiting most Western and European countries continued to be difficult.

This dissatisfaction with India's poor passport strength was reflected in recent global passport ranking, ranking India at position eighty-five among nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

Officials in India have not issued a statement on the report yet.

Nations including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies compared to India – which is the world's fifth biggest economy – hold better positions on the index at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

In fact, the country's position over the last ten years has remained in the 80s, falling to ninetieth place two years ago. Such standings appear poor when measured against other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Indicates

The power of a passport indicates a country's global influence and global influence. This leads to better mobility for its citizens, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in more paperwork, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

But despite the decline in the rank, the number of countries offering visa-free access to Indians has actually increased in the past decade or so.

As an instance, eight years ago – when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – fifty-two nations provided visa-free travel to Indians with the passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

The following year, it tumbled to the 85th position, then improved to 80th in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the 85th position this year. Meanwhile, visa-free destinations to Indian citizens grew from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and sixty-two this year.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The count of visa-free destinations this year (57) exceeds the number eight years ago (52), yet the country's position for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. So, why is that?

Analysts note that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – indicating that countries are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and economic growth. According to a 2025 report, the global average count of countries people can visit visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

As an illustration, China has expanded its count of visa-free countries its citizens can travel to from 50 to 82 in the past decade. As a result, its rank in the ranking has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth in that same duration.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – which was ranked 77th on the index in July – fell to eighty-fifth place in October after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

A former Indian ambassador says there are other factors influencing a nation's passport power, including economic and political conditions as well as its receptiveness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For instance, the US passport has dropped out from the top ten currently holding twelfth place – a historic low – because of its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The diplomat recalls how in the 1970s, Indian citizens had visa-free travel to numerous European and Western nations, but that changed after the Khalistan movement in the 1980s. Subsequent political upheavals have continued to damage the country's reputation as a stable, democratic country.

"Numerous nations are growing more cautious regarding migrants," he stated. "India has a large quantity 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 play a role in gaining visa-free access to foreign nations.

Enhanced Security Measures

India's passport faces ongoing security threats. Last year, authorities detained over two hundred individuals for suspected passport and visa irregularities. The country also has complex immigration processes with lengthy timelines for visa approvals.

The former ambassador says that technological advances, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, can improve security and streamline immigration. This electronic document contains a small chip holding biometric data, making it harder to counterfeit or alter the document.

But, more diplomatic outreach and travel partnerships remain key to boosting international travel freedom for Indian citizens and consequently, India's passport ranking.