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

The influencer stated that while nearby nations such as Sri Lanka and Bhutan offered easier access of travelers from India, obtaining visas to travel to many nations in Europe and the West continued to be difficult.

Such concerns regarding the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in the latest Henley Passport Index, ranking the country at position eighty-five out of nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

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

Nations like Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies compared to India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – are ranked higher in the ranking in the seventies range, in that order.

In fact, India's rank in the past decade has hovered in the 80s, falling to the 90th spot in 2021. Such standings are dismal compared to other Asian countries like Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Measures

Passport strength reflects a nation's soft power and global influence. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for passport holders, boosting business and learning opportunities. Limited passport power means more paperwork, higher visa costs, fewer travel privileges and extended processing periods for travel.

But despite the decline in the rank, the number of countries providing visa-free travel for Indian citizens has grown over the last ten years.

As an instance, in 2014 – when the current administration's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed office – 52 countries offered visa-free access to Indians with the passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

A year later, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then rose to eightieth over the past two years, declining once more to the eighty-fifth spot this year. Meanwhile, visa-free destinations for Indians grew from fifty-two eight years ago to sixty last year and sixty-two this year.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The count of nations allowing visa-free entry in 2025 (fifty-seven) is higher than the number in 2015 (fifty-two), but India's rank for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Analysts note that a primary factor involves growing competition in global mobility – meaning countries are entering into additional travel agreements to benefit their citizens and economic growth. As per recent analysis, the worldwide mean count of countries travellers are able to access visa-free has almost doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to 109 in 2025.

For example, The Chinese passport has expanded its count of visa-free destinations available to its citizens from 50 to 82 in the past decade. As a result, its rank on the index has improved from 94th to 60th during the same time period.

Meanwhile, The Indian passport – previously positioned 77th on the index during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place this autumn following the loss to two countries.

Other Influences Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India says multiple elements influencing a nation's passport power, like its economic and political stability as well as its receptiveness to accepting travelers from other countries.

For example, the US passport has fallen from the top ten and now occupies twelfth place – a historic low – due to its more inward-looking approach in global affairs.

The diplomat recalls that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free access to many Western and European countries, though this shifted after the Khalistan movement during the eighties. Later political disturbances have continued to damage at India's image as a stable, democratic country.

"Many countries are growing more cautious of immigrants," the diplomat added. "The country possesses a large quantity of citizens emigrating overseas or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Factors such as how secure of a national passport and its immigration procedures also play a role to obtaining visa-free access to other countries.

Enhanced Security Measures

The Indian passport faces ongoing security threats. Last year, law enforcement detained over two hundred individuals for alleged visa and passport fraud. India is also known for cumbersome immigration procedures and a slow pace for visa approvals.

The diplomat says that technological advances, like India's recently-launched digital passport or e-passport, may enhance safety and ease the immigration process. This electronic document contains a microchip that stores biometric information, increasing difficulty to forge or tamper with the passport.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel agreements continue essential to boosting the global mobility of Indians and consequently, India's passport ranking.