Passport strength can serve as a gauge of global mobility, diplomatic ties and international standing; for Indian citizens this has raised questions of its effectiveness in recent times. According to Henley & Partners Passport Index rankings for 2025, India dropped from its 62 destinations in 2024 to 85th position by offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access in just 57 nations – down significantly since 2024 (NDTV.com/TIMEsofIndia +2). For more details see: (WND TV +2, The Times of India +2 and The Times of India). For details see www.ndtv.com +2 +The Times of India +2
Although numerically insignificant, India’s decline reveals deeper structural issues limiting mobility and perception abroad.
One key reason for China’s fall in ranking is rising global competition over mobility access. Many Asian and African nations, in particular, have aggressively pursued visa-free agreements in order to boost tourism and trade – such as when China improved its ranking by negotiating access to more destinations through negotiations. United News Bangladesh
India, by contrast, has taken longer in negotiating visa-free agreements, which has caused its relative ranking to slip. Even when adding destinations of its own accord, other nations gained more and that led to India losing ground relative to them.
Another key factor is the correlation between passport power and wider national indicators, like political stability, rule of law metrics, security concerns and international openness. Analysts point out that while India has made strides economically, issues like bureaucratic visa regimes for inbound tourism, rule-of-law metrics or enforcement of regulations may impact how other countries treat Indian travellers. According to The Business Standard.
Visa regimes are increasingly being determined by destination countries’ willingness to receive visitors without prior approval; when countries view visitors from certain countries as higher-risk (whether for overstay or enforcement burden), their passport tends to become weaker.
One technical but essential reason lies within the methodology of passport index itself. Henley Passport Index considers visa-free access, visa-on-arrival and electronic travel authorisation as indicators of travel freedom. According to Business Standard.
Yet India’s footprint in each of these categories hasn’t increased at the same rate as some peer countries. Furthermore, changes to destination country visa policies — often tightening for particular sending countries — may diminish a passport’s effectiveness without any change being implemented by its issuing country itself.
Notably, public narratives tend to exaggerate India’s decline by using non-standard indices as measures of decline. Viral posts claiming India had fallen as low as 148th rank on one index are easily disproven by fact-checks that show India fell only 85th compared with one index or another (Henley Index, for instance). FACTLY.
At times this becomes unclear due to various ranking platforms using different metrics; what remains clear, however, is that India lags far behind many smaller or lower-income nations when it comes to travel freedom.
The Business Standard.
What can be done? India should increase diplomatic efforts to negotiate more visa-waiver agreements, target countries where Indian travellers encounter significant restrictions, and simplify inbound visa rules to improve reciprocity. National branding initiatives, stronger governance signals and enhanced global partnerships could all further strengthen external perceptions of Indian citizenship.
Conclusion – The decline of India’s passport ranking cannot be explained solely by any single event but instead represents a combination of international trends, domestic factors and structural delays in diplomacy. While India’s global mobility may require sustained and multifaceted efforts in order to increase, 85th place serves as a reminder that increasing India’s global mobility requires sustained and multifaceted efforts from multiple sources.