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In recent months, an online clip from an Indian travel influencer complaining about India's weak passport went viral across digital platforms.

The influencer stated although nearby nations like Sri Lanka and Bhutan offered easier access to Indian tourists, securing travel permits to travel to most Western and European countries remained a challenge.

Such concerns regarding India's poor passport strength found confirmation in the latest Henley Passport Index, which placed India in the 85th spot out of 199 countries, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

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

Nations like Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size compared to India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – hold better positions in the ranking at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

Actually, India's rank in the past decade has hovered in the 80s, even dipping to the 90th spot in 2021. These rankings are dismal when measured against Asian nations such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Measures

The power of a passport indicates a nation's soft power and international standing. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, improving commercial and learning opportunities. Limited passport power means more paperwork, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times for travel.

However, even with the drop in position, the number of countries offering visa-free access to Indians has actually increased over the last ten years.

For example, eight years ago – the year the current administration's ruling party came to power – fifty-two nations provided visa-free travel to Indians with the passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

The following year, it fell to the 85th position, then rose to eightieth over the past two years, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot this year. Meanwhile, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens increased from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and sixty-two this year.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The number of visa-free destinations in 2025 (fifty-seven) exceeds what it was in 2015 (fifty-two), yet India's rank for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a major reason involves growing competition in international travel – indicating that nations are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and economic growth. According to a 2025 report, the worldwide mean number of destinations travellers are able to access without visas has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

For example, China has expanded its count of visa-free countries available to its citizens from 50 to 82 over the last ten years. 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 during summer – dropped to the 85th position in October after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India says there are other factors that affect the strength of a country's passport, including economic and political conditions plus its openness to welcoming citizens from abroad.

For example, the American passport has fallen of the top 10 currently holding twelfth place – its lowest ever – because of its increasingly insular stance in world politics.

The former ambassador mentioned that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free access to many Western and European countries, though this shifted following Khalistan movement in the 1980s. Later political disturbances have continued to damage at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Numerous nations are also becoming more cautious regarding migrants," he stated. "India has a large quantity of people migrating overseas or remaining beyond visa limits and that interferes with the national image."

Factors like the security level a country's passport is and immigration processes also contribute in gaining visa-free access to other countries.

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport remains vulnerable to security risks. In 2024, authorities detained over two hundred individuals for alleged visa and passport fraud. The country also has complex immigration processes with lengthy timelines for visa approvals.

The diplomat indicated that technological advances, like India's recently-launched digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. This electronic document contains a microchip that stores biometric data, making it harder to forge or tamper with the passport.

But, more diplomatic outreach and travel partnerships continue essential to boosting international travel freedom of Indians and, by extension, India's passport ranking.