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In recent months, a video from a popular travel content creator complaining about India's weak passport went viral on social media.

He mentioned although neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming of Indian tourists, obtaining visas to travel to most Western and European countries continued to be difficult.

This dissatisfaction with India's poor passport strength was reflected in the latest Henley Passport Index, which placed the country at position eighty-five among 199 countries, a decline of five positions compared to the previous year.

Officials in India has not commented on the report yet.

Countries including 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 at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

In fact, the country's position over the last ten years has hovered in the 80s, even dipping to the 90th spot two years ago. These rankings are dismal when measured against Asian nations such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have consistently held leading ranks.

Global Passport Power Indicates

Passport strength indicates a nation's soft power and global influence. This leads to enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, boosting business and learning opportunities. A weak passport means more paperwork, higher visa costs, reduced travel benefits and longer waiting times when journeying.

However, even with the decline in the rank, the count of nations offering visa-free access for Indian citizens has actually increased in the past decade or so.

As an instance, in 2014 – the year the current administration's ruling party assumed office – 52 countries provided visa-free travel for Indian passport holders with the passport ranked 76th in the ranking.

A year later, it tumbled to eighty-fifth place, then rose to 80th over the past two years, declining once more to the 85th position this year. Meanwhile, countries allowing visa-free travel to Indian citizens grew from 52 in 2015 to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

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

Experts say that a major reason is the increasingly competitive landscape in international travel – indicating that countries are entering into additional travel agreements to benefit their citizens and their economies. As per a 2025 report, the global average count of countries people can visit without visas has nearly doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to 109 in 2025.

For example, China has expanded the number of visa-free countries its citizens can travel to from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. Consequently, its rank in the ranking has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth in that same duration.

In comparison, India – which was ranked 77th on the index in July – fell to the 85th position this autumn after losing access to two countries.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

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

For instance, the American passport has fallen of the top 10 currently holding twelfth place – its lowest ever – due to its increasingly insular stance in world politics.

The former ambassador mentioned that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free travel to numerous European and Western nations, but that changed after the Sikh separatist movement during the eighties. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away at India's image as a stable democracy.

"Numerous nations are growing more cautious of immigrants," he stated. "India has a high number of people migrating to other countries or overstaying their visas affecting the country's reputation."

Factors like how secure of a national passport and its immigration procedures also contribute to obtaining visa-free entry to foreign nations.

Security and Technological Improvements

The Indian passport remains vulnerable to security risks. Last year, law enforcement arrested over two hundred individuals for suspected visa and passport fraud. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures with lengthy timelines 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. The e-passport includes a microchip that stores biometric data, increasing difficulty to counterfeit or alter the document.

But, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements remain key to boosting international travel freedom of Indians and, by extension, India's passport ranking.