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In recent months, a video by an Indian travel influencer expressing frustration over India's weak passport gained massive traction on social media.

He mentioned although nearby nations like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming 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 found confirmation in the latest global passport ranking, which placed the country in the 85th spot among 199 countries, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

The Indian government has not commented regarding these findings yet.

Nations including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size compared to India – a nation that is the fifth-largest economy globally – hold better positions on the index at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, in that order.

In fact, the country's position over the last ten years has remained in the 80s, even dipping to ninetieth place in 2021. Such standings are dismal when measured against Asian nations such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held top positions.

What Passport Strength Measures

Passport strength indicates a country's global influence and international standing. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for passport holders, improving commercial and learning opportunities. A weak passport results in more paperwork, higher visa costs, fewer travel privileges and longer waiting times for travel.

However, even with the decline in the rank, the count of nations offering visa-free access to Indians has actually increased over the last ten years.

As an instance, eight years ago – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office – 52 countries offered visa-free travel for Indian passport holders and its passport ranked 76th on the index.

The following year, it tumbled to eighty-fifth place, then rose to 80th in 2023 and 2024, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot this year. Meanwhile, visa-free destinations for Indians increased 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 in 2015 (fifty-two), yet the country's position for both these years is 85. What explains this situation?

Analysts note that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – indicating that nations are entering into additional travel agreements for their populations' advantage and economic growth. As per recent analysis, the worldwide mean count of countries people can visit visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

For example, China has expanded the number of visa-free countries available to its citizens from fifty to eighty-two over the last ten years. Consequently, its position on the index has enhanced from ninety-fourth to sixtieth in that same duration.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – which was ranked at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place this autumn following the loss to two countries.

Other Influences Affecting Passport Strength

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

For example, the US passport has dropped out from the top ten currently holding twelfth place – a historic low – due to its increasingly insular stance in world politics.

The former ambassador mentioned that during the seventies, Indians enjoyed visa-free travel to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Sikh separatist movement in the 1980s. Later political disturbances have continued to damage the country's reputation as a stable, democratic country.

"Numerous nations are growing more cautious of immigrants," he stated. "The country possesses a large quantity of citizens emigrating overseas or overstaying their visas affecting the country's reputation."

Elements like how secure a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also play a role in gaining visa-free access to other countries.

Security and Technological Improvements

The Indian passport faces ongoing security threats. Last year, authorities detained 203 people for alleged visa and passport fraud. The country also has complex immigration processes with lengthy timelines of visa processing.

The diplomat indicated that technological advances, such as the newly introduced electronic passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and ease the immigration process. This electronic document includes a microchip that stores biometric information, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the document.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel agreements continue essential for enhancing international travel freedom for Indian citizens and consequently, the Indian passport's global position.