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Earlier this year, an online clip from a popular travel content creator expressing frustration over the limited power of the Indian passport went viral on social media.

The influencer stated although nearby nations like Sri Lanka and Bhutan were more welcoming to travelers from India, securing travel permits to travel to most Western and European countries continued to be difficult.

This dissatisfaction with the limited global access of Indian passports found confirmation in recent Henley Passport Index, which placed India in the 85th spot among 199 countries, five spots lower than last year.

Officials in India have not issued a statement regarding these findings yet.

Nations like Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size than India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – hold better positions in the ranking at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, in that order.

In fact, India's rank in the past decade has remained around the eighties, falling to the 90th spot in 2021. These rankings appear poor when measured against other Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea, all maintaining leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Indicates

The power of a passport reflects a nation's soft power and global influence. It also translates into enhanced travel freedom for its citizens, improving commercial and educational prospects. Limited passport power means additional documentation, increased visa expenses, fewer travel privileges and extended processing periods for travel.

But despite the decline in the rank, the count of nations providing visa-free travel to Indians has grown in the past decade or so.

As an instance, in 2014 – when the current administration's ruling party came to power – fifty-two nations provided visa-free travel to Indians and its passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

The following year, it tumbled to eighty-fifth place, then improved to 80th in 2023 and 2024, dropping again to the eighty-fifth spot currently. Meanwhile, countries allowing visa-free travel for Indians grew from fifty-two eight years ago to sixty last year and 62 in 2024.

Increasing Worldwide Travel Competition

The count of visa-free destinations in 2025 (fifty-seven) is higher than what it was eight years ago (52), yet the country's position during both periods remains at eighty-fifth. So, why is that?

Experts say that a major reason involves growing competition in global mobility – indicating that nations are entering into more travel partnerships for their populations' advantage and economic growth. As per recent analysis, the global average number of destinations travellers are able to access visa-free has nearly doubled from 58 in 2006 to one hundred nine currently.

As an illustration, The Chinese passport has increased its count of visa-free destinations its citizens can travel to from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. Consequently, its position on the index has improved from ninety-fourth to sixtieth in that same duration.

In comparison, India – previously positioned at seventy-seventh place during summer – dropped to eighty-fifth place in October following the loss of two nations.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India says there are other factors influencing a nation's passport power, like economic and political conditions as well as its openness to welcoming citizens from abroad.

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

The diplomat mentioned that during the seventies, Indian citizens had visa-free access to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Sikh separatist movement during the eighties. Later political disturbances have further chipped away the country's reputation as a stable democracy.

"Many countries are growing increasingly wary regarding migrants," the diplomat added. "India has a high number of citizens emigrating to other countries or remaining beyond visa limits and that interferes with the country's reputation."

Elements like how secure a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also contribute to obtaining visa-free access to other countries.

Enhanced Security Measures

India's passport remains vulnerable to security risks. In 2024, authorities arrested 203 people for suspected passport and visa irregularities. The country also has cumbersome immigration procedures and a slow pace of visa processing.

The diplomat says that new technologies, such as the newly introduced digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. This electronic document includes a small chip that stores biometric data, making it harder to counterfeit or alter the document.

However, increased diplomatic efforts and travel partnerships remain key for enhancing international travel freedom of Indians and consequently, India's passport ranking.