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Earlier this year, an online clip by a popular travel content creator complaining about India's weak passport gained massive traction across digital platforms.

He mentioned although nearby nations like Sri Lanka and Bhutan offered easier access of Indian tourists, securing travel permits to travel to many nations in Europe and the West remained a challenge.

This dissatisfaction with the limited global access of Indian passports was reflected in recent global passport ranking, ranking the country in the 85th spot among nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower than last year.

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

Countries including Rwanda, Ghana 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 in the past decade has hovered around the eighties, falling to the 90th spot two years ago. Such standings appear poor compared to other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held top positions.

Global Passport Power Measures

The power of a passport reflects a country's global influence and international standing. It also translates into better mobility for passport holders, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport means more paperwork, increased visa expenses, fewer travel privileges and longer waiting times when journeying.

But despite the decline in the rank, the count of nations providing visa-free travel for Indian citizens has grown in the past decade or so.

As an instance, in 2014 – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power – 52 countries provided visa-free access to Indians with the passport ranked 76th on the index.

A year later, it fell to the 85th position, then improved to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot currently. At the same time, countries allowing visa-free travel for Indians grew from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The count of nations allowing visa-free entry in 2025 (57) exceeds what it was eight years ago (52), yet India's rank for both these years is 85. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – indicating that nations are entering into more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and economic growth. According to a 2025 report, the global average number of destinations people can visit without visas has almost doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2025.

For example, China has expanded the number of visa-free destinations its citizens can travel to from 50 to 82 in the past decade. Consequently, its position on the index has enhanced from 94th to 60th during the same time period.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – which was ranked at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to the 85th position this autumn after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Affecting Passport Strength

An ex-diplomat from India notes there are other factors that affect the strength of a country's passport, like economic and political conditions as well as its receptiveness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For example, the American passport has dropped out of the top 10 currently holding the 12th position – a historic low – because of its increasingly insular stance in world politics.

The diplomat recalls how in the 1970s, Indians enjoyed visa-free access to many Western and European countries, though this shifted following Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Later political disturbances have further chipped away the country's reputation as a stable, democratic country.

"Many countries are also becoming more cautious of immigrants," the diplomat added. "India has a large quantity of people migrating to other countries or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Elements such as how secure of a national passport and immigration processes also play a role in gaining visa-free entry to other countries.

Security and Technological Improvements

The Indian passport remains vulnerable to security threats. In 2024, authorities arrested 203 people for suspected visa and passport fraud. India is also known for complex immigration processes with lengthy timelines of visa processing.

The diplomat says that technological advances, like India's recently-launched digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport includes a small chip that stores biometric information, making it harder to forge or tamper with the document.

But, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements continue essential to boosting international travel freedom for Indian citizens and, by extension, the Indian passport's global position.