India's passport was once counted among the strongest in the world, but in the last two decades its global position has weakened with ups and downs. According to the latest Henley Passport Index 2026, the Indian passport has now reached 81st position in the world. In the year 2006, India was ranked 71st, that is, India's ranking has slipped 10 places in 20 years. At present, Indian passport holders get the facility to travel to 55 countries through visa-free, visa-on-arrival or eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization).
This ranking is considered to be an indication not only of a country's travel facilities but also of its diplomatic reach, international agreements and global trust. In such a situation, the decline in India's ranking has once again raised the question as to why the strength of the Indian passport is decreasing in the world and what effect it can have on the common travelers. However, this is not the first time that the ranking of the Indian passport has fallen. India's position has gone up and down many times in the last 20 years.
In the year 2021, India had reached its lowest position of 90th. After this there was some improvement and the rank reached 80 in 2024, but again fell to 85 in 2025. Now in 2026, India is at 81st position. It is being said that this decline is not only due to India, but the ranking is also affected by other countries rapidly making new visa agreements and providing visa-free travel facilities to more countries to their citizens.
Indian Passport Ranking 2026 (Getty Image)
This means that even if the number of visa-free countries in India remains stable and other countries move forward rapidly, India's rank may go down. In the same month, in another passport index across the world, India's position was said to be weak, which makes it clear that India still faces many challenges in terms of global mobility.
According to the recent report, India was at 71st position in 2006. After this, the ranking gradually kept going down and by 2012, India reached 82nd position. There was some improvement in 2013 and India came at 74th position, but this improvement could not last long. India reached 88th position in 2015 and during the pandemic in 2021, its ranking dropped to 90th, its lowest ever. There was some improvement in the subsequent years, but India still lags behind compared to 2006.
The strength of a passport is determined by the number of countries its citizens can travel to without obtaining a visa beforehand. If other countries continuously make new visa-free agreements and India moves relatively slowly, its ranking goes down. The recently revealed rankings are based on travel rules and visa data of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In this, 199 passports and 227 destinations are evaluated. Therefore, the rank of a country depends not only on its own position but also on the performance of other countries.
Rank of Indian passport dropped (Getty Image)
India currently has 55 destinations where Indian citizens can travel without prior visa or through visa-on-arrival or Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). However, Indian citizens still have to obtain prior visa for major destinations like the US, UK, Canada and most European countries. This is the reason why India is still far behind the top countries in terms of global travel facilities.
In 2026, the number of countries that Indian passport holders can travel to without prior visa has reduced to 55. Earlier this number was 56, but Cape Verde Islands ended the visa-on-arrival facility for Indians, after which this number reduced by one.
Visa-free countries include countries like Bhutan, Nepal, Malaysia, Mauritius, Thailand, Philippines, Barbados, Fiji, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Rwanda and Sri Lanka. The countries providing visa-on-arrival facility include countries like Maldives, Qatar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Jordan, Laos, Madagascar, Mongolia, Myanmar, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Samoa.
That is, to travel to these countries, Indian citizens do not need to go to the embassy in advance and obtain a traditional visa. In many places, visa is available directly on arrival, while in some countries one can enter without visa.
The rankings of many big countries of the world have also changed from time to time. The passport index is based on constantly changing visa rules and bilateral agreements. Some countries rapidly entered into new visa-free agreements over the past two decades, while others fell down in ranking. The strength of a passport therefore depends not only on economic status, but also on diplomatic relations and international cooperation.
