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

The influencer stated although nearby nations like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming of Indian tourists, securing travel permits for visiting many nations in Europe and the West continued to be difficult.

Such concerns regarding India's poor passport strength found confirmation in recent global passport ranking, ranking the country at position eighty-five among nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower than last year.

The Indian government has not commented on the report so far.

Countries like 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 in the seventies range, respectively.

In fact, India's rank in the past decade has remained around the eighties, even dipping to the 90th spot two years ago. These rankings are dismal when measured against Asian nations like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining top positions.

What Passport Strength Measures

Passport strength reflects a country's global influence and global influence. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, boosting business and educational prospects. Limited passport power results in additional documentation, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times when journeying.

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

For example, eight years ago – when Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party assumed office – 52 countries provided visa-free access for Indian passport holders and its passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

A year later, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then improved to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot currently. Meanwhile, visa-free destinations to Indian citizens grew from fifty-two eight years ago to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The number of nations allowing visa-free entry in 2025 (57) is higher than the number in 2015 (52), but the country's position during both periods remains at eighty-fifth. So, why is that?

Experts say that a major reason is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – meaning countries are forming more travel partnerships for their populations' advantage and economic growth. As per a 2025 report, the global average count of countries travellers are able to access visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

As an illustration, The Chinese passport has increased its count of visa-free countries its citizens can travel to from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. As a result, its position in the ranking has enhanced from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

In comparison, India – which was ranked at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place this autumn after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

A former Indian ambassador notes multiple elements influencing the strength of a country's passport, including economic and political conditions as well as its receptiveness to accepting travelers from abroad.

For example, the American passport has dropped out from the top ten and now occupies the 12th position – a historic low – because of its more inward-looking approach in world politics.

The former ambassador mentioned how in the 1970s, Indian citizens had visa-free access to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Later political disturbances have continued to damage at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are growing more cautious of immigrants," he stated. "India has a large quantity of people migrating overseas or remaining beyond visa limits and that interferes with the national image."

Elements such as the security level of a national passport and its immigration procedures also play a role to obtaining visa-free access to foreign nations.

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport remains vulnerable to 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 of visa processing.

The former ambassador says that new technologies, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport includes a microchip holding biometric data, making it harder to forge or tamper with the passport.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements remain key to boosting the global mobility of Indians and, by extension, India's passport ranking.