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In recent months, a video by a popular travel content creator complaining about the limited power of the Indian passport went viral on social media.

He mentioned that while neighbouring countries such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming of travelers from India, securing travel permits to travel to most Western and European countries remained a challenge.

Such concerns regarding India's poor passport strength was reflected in recent global passport ranking, which placed the country at position eighty-five among nearly two hundred nations, five spots lower compared to the previous year.

The Indian government has not commented regarding these findings so far.

Countries like Ghana, Rwanda and Azerbaijan despite smaller economic size compared to India – a nation that is the world's fifth biggest economy – are ranked higher in the ranking at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

Actually, India's rank over the last ten years has hovered in the 80s, falling to ninetieth place in 2021. These rankings are dismal compared to Asian nations such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, all maintaining leading ranks.

What Passport Strength Indicates

The power of a passport indicates a nation's soft power and global influence. This leads to better mobility for passport holders, boosting business and educational prospects. Limited passport power results in additional documentation, higher visa costs, fewer travel privileges and longer waiting times when journeying.

But despite the decline in the rank, the number of countries providing visa-free travel to Indians has actually increased in the past decade or so.

For example, in 2014 – the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party assumed office – fifty-two nations offered visa-free access for Indian passport holders with the passport at seventy-sixth position in the ranking.

A year later, it fell to eighty-fifth place, then improved to 80th in 2023 and 2024, dropping again to the 85th position this year. Meanwhile, visa-free destinations for Indians increased from fifty-two eight years ago to sixty last year and sixty-two this year.

The Competitive Global Mobility Landscape

The count of visa-free destinations this year (57) exceeds what it was eight years ago (52), yet the country's position for both these years remains at eighty-fifth. What explains this situation?

Experts say that a primary factor is the increasingly competitive landscape in international travel – meaning nations are entering into additional travel agreements to benefit their citizens and their economies. According to recent analysis, the worldwide mean number of destinations people can visit without visas has nearly doubled from fifty-eight nineteen years ago to one hundred nine currently.

For example, The Chinese passport has increased its count of visa-free countries its citizens can travel to from fifty to eighty-two in the past decade. Consequently, its rank on the index has enhanced from ninety-fourth to sixtieth during the same time period.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked at seventy-seventh place in July – fell to eighty-fifth place this autumn following the loss to two countries.

Additional Factors Impacting Passport Power

An ex-diplomat from India says there are other factors influencing the strength of a country's passport, like its economic and political stability as well as its receptiveness to welcoming citizens from abroad.

For example, the American passport has dropped out from the top ten and now occupies twelfth place – a historic low – due to its increasingly insular stance in global affairs.

The diplomat mentioned how in the 1970s, Indian citizens had visa-free access to numerous European and Western nations, but that changed after the Sikh separatist movement during the eighties. Later political disturbances have continued to damage 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 remaining beyond visa limits affecting the national image."

Elements such as the security level a country's passport is and immigration processes also contribute in gaining visa-free access to other countries.

Security and Technological Improvements

India's passport remains vulnerable to security risks. Last year, law enforcement detained over two hundred individuals for suspected passport and visa irregularities. India is also known for complex immigration processes and a slow pace for visa approvals.

The diplomat indicated that new technologies, like India's recently-launched digital passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. This electronic document includes a small chip holding biometric information, making it harder to counterfeit or alter the document.

However, more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements remain key for enhancing the global mobility of Indians and consequently, the Indian passport's global position.