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Earlier this year, a video by a popular travel content creator complaining about India's weak passport went viral on social media.

He mentioned that while neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming to travelers from India, obtaining visas to travel to most Western and European countries remained a challenge.

Such concerns regarding the limited global access of Indian passports was reflected in recent global passport ranking, which placed India at position eighty-five out of nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

The Indian government have not issued a statement regarding these findings so far.

Countries including Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size than India – which is the world's fifth biggest economy – hold better positions on the index in the seventies range, in that order.

In fact, India's rank in the past decade has hovered in the 80s, falling to ninetieth place two years ago. These rankings are dismal when measured against other Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, all maintaining leading ranks.

Global Passport Power Measures

The power of a passport reflects a nation's soft power and global influence. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, boosting business and learning opportunities. Limited passport power means additional documentation, higher visa costs, fewer travel privileges and extended processing periods when journeying.

But despite the decline in the rank, the count of nations offering visa-free access for Indian citizens 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) came to power – 52 countries offered visa-free access for Indian passport holders with the passport at seventy-sixth position on the index.

The following year, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then improved to eightieth over the past two years, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot this year. At the same time, visa-free destinations for Indians increased from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and 62 in 2024.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The number of nations allowing visa-free entry in 2025 (57) is higher than the number in 2015 (fifty-two), but the country's position for both these years is 85. What explains this situation?

Analysts note that a major reason is the increasingly competitive landscape in global mobility – meaning nations are forming more travel partnerships to benefit their citizens and economic growth. As per recent analysis, the global average count of countries travellers are able to access visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to 109 in 2025.

As an illustration, The Chinese passport has expanded its count of visa-free countries its citizens can travel to from 50 to 82 over the last ten years. Consequently, its rank on the index has improved from 94th to 60th in that same duration.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – previously positioned 77th on the index in July – dropped to eighty-fifth place this autumn following the loss of two nations.

Other Influences Impacting Passport Power

A former Indian ambassador says multiple elements influencing a nation's passport power, including its economic and political stability plus its openness to accepting travelers from other countries.

For example, the American passport has dropped out from the top ten currently holding twelfth place – its lowest ever – due to its increasingly insular stance in world politics.

The diplomat mentioned that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free travel to numerous European and Western nations, but that changed following Sikh separatist movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have continued to damage at India's image as a stable, democratic country.

"Many countries are also becoming increasingly wary regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "India has a high number of citizens emigrating to other countries or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Elements like how secure of a national passport and its immigration procedures also contribute to obtaining visa-free access to other countries.

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport remains vulnerable to security risks. Last year, law enforcement detained over two hundred individuals for suspected 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, like India's recently-launched electronic passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. This electronic document contains a small chip that stores biometric information, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the document.

But, increased diplomatic efforts and travel agreements remain key for enhancing the global mobility for Indian citizens and, by extension, the Indian passport's global position.