Henley Passport Index: Why Indian passport is falling in global ranking

Indians can travel to more visa-free destinations than a decade ago, but India's passport ranking has declined.

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He said that while neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Sri Lanka were more welcoming of Indian tourists, getting visas to travel to most Western and European countries remained a challenge.

His dissatisfaction with India's poor passport strength was reflected in the latest Henley Passport Index - a ranking system of the world's passports based on visa-free travel - which placed India in the 85th spot out of 199 countries, five spots lower than last year.

The Indian government has not commented on the report yet. The BBC has reached out to the ministry of external affairs.

Countries like Rwanda, Ghana and Azerbaijan with much smaller economies than India - which is the fifth-largest economy globally - are ranked higher on the index at the 78th, 74th and 72nd spots, respectively.