The Indian passport continues to strengthen in the global index, as shown by the last passport index 2019, in which the ranking of Indian passports increased in 10 places in the last five years, from 77 in 2015 to 67 in 2019.
The 2019 passport index classifies the passports of 199 countries according to their Visa-Free scores and their classification in the UNDP human development index. India has improved one place in the last year since it was placed in position 68 in 2018.
The improvement in the rankings suggests that more countries are opening up to Indian tourists and recognizing their purchasing power. 25 countries now allow visa-free entry to holders of Indian passports and 39 more nations offer visas upon arrival.
The main reason behind the growing acceptance of Indian tourists is that the Indian government has opened its arms to foreign tourists in the last five years. The tourism ministry now provides visa services for electronic tourists to 166 countries, compared to 46 countries in 2014, after a series of amendments in the country’s electronic visa regime to make the process more tourist-friendly and double figures of arrivals of foreign tourists for 2021.
The passport of the United Arab Emirates occupies the highest position in the index, since it allows to travel without problems to 167 countries ahead of Germany in the second position, while USA And France shares the third place with 10 other countries.
