Why Indian passport is falling in international rating

Earlier this 12 months, a video by an Indian journey influencer complaining about India’s weak passport went viral on social media.

He said that whereas neighbouring international locations like Bhutan and Sri Lanka have been extra welcoming of Indian vacationers, getting visas to journey to most Western and European international locations remained a problem.

His dissatisfaction with India’s poor passport power was mirrored in the latest Henley Passport Index – a rating system of the world’s passports based mostly on visa-free journey – which positioned India within the eighty fifth spot out of 199 international locations, 5 spots decrease than final 12 months.

The Indian authorities has not commented on the report but. The BBC has reached out to the ministry of exterior affairs.

Countries like Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan with a lot smaller economies than India – which is the fifth-largest financial system globally – are ranked greater on the index on the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.

In reality, India’s rank previously decade has hovered within the 80s, even dipping to the ninetieth spot in 2021. These rankings are dismal in comparison with Asian nations like Japan, South Korea and Singapore, which have persistently held prime positions.

This 12 months, just like the final, Singapore topped the index with visa-free journey to 193 international locations. South Korea got here in second with 190 visa-free locations and Japan ranked third with 189 international locations.

Meanwhile, Indian passport holders have visa-free entry to 57 international locations, identical to the residents of the African nation Mauritania, which shares the eighty fifth rank with India.

Passport power displays a nation’s tender energy and international affect. It additionally interprets into higher mobility for its residents, boosting enterprise and studying alternatives. A weak passport means extra paperwork, greater visa prices, fewer journey privileges and longer ready instances for journey.

But regardless of the decline within the rank, the variety of international locations providing visa-free entry to Indians has really elevated previously decade or so.

For instance, in 2014 – the 12 months Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got here to energy – 52 international locations provided visa-free journey to Indians and its passport ranked 76th on the index.

A 12 months later, it tumbled to the eighty fifth place, then rose to eightieth in 2023 and 2024, dropping once more to the eighty fifth place this 12 months. Meanwhile, visa-free locations for Indians elevated from 52 in 2015 to 60 in 2023 and 62 in 2024.

The variety of visa-free locations in 2025 (57) is greater than what it was in 2015 (52), but India’s rank for each these years is 85. So, why is that?

Experts say {that a} main motive is the more and more aggressive panorama in international mobility – which means international locations are coming into into extra journey partnerships to profit their residents and their economies. According to a 2025 report by Henley & Partners, the worldwide common variety of locations travellers are in a position to entry visa-free has practically doubled from 58 in 2006 to 109 in 2025.

For instance, China has elevated the variety of visa-free locations its residents can journey to from 50 to 82 previously decade. Consequently, its rank on the index has improved from 94th to sixtieth throughout the identical time interval.

Meanwhile, India – which was ranked 77th on the index in July (the Henley Passport Index is up to date quarterly to replicate adjustments in international visa insurance policies) because it loved visa-free entry to 59 international locations – dropped to the eighty fifth place in October after dropping entry to 2 international locations.

Achal Malhotra, former Indian ambassador to Armenia, says there are different components that have an effect on the power of a rustic’s passport, like its financial and political stability in addition to its openness to welcoming residents from different international locations.

For instance, the US passport has dropped out of the highest 10 and now occupies the twelfth place – a historic low – because of its increasingly insular stance in world politics, the report says.

Mr Malhotra remembers how within the Seventies, Indians loved visa-free journey to many Western and European international locations, however that modified after the Khalistan motion within the Eighties, which referred to as for an impartial homeland for Sikhs in India and prompted inside turmoil. Subsequent political upheavals have additional chipped away at India’s picture as a steady, democratic nation.

“Many countries are also becoming increasingly wary of immigrants,” Mr Malhotra says. “India has a high number of people migrating to other countries or overstaying their visas and that interferes with the country’s reputation.”

Factors corresponding to how safe a rustic’s passport is and its immigration procedures additionally play a job in gaining visa-free entry to different international locations, Mr Malhotra says.

India’s passport stays susceptible to safety threats. In 2024, the Delhi police arrested 203 people for alleged visa and passport fraud. India can also be identified for having cumbersome immigration procedures and a gradual tempo of visa processing.

Mr Malhotra says that technological advances, like India’s recently-launched electronic passport or e-passport, can enhance safety and ease the immigration course of. The e-passport features a small chip that shops biometric info, making it more durable to forge or tamper with the doc.

But extra diplomatic outreach and journey agreements stay key to boosting the worldwide mobility of Indians and, by extension, India’s passport rating.

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