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>Achal Malhotra, former Indian ambassador to Armenia, says there are other factors that affect the strength of a country's passport, like its economic and political stability as well as its openness to welcoming citizens from other countries.

>For example, the US passport has dropped out of the top 10 and now occupies the 12th position - a historic low - because of its increasingly insular stance in world politics, the report says.

>Mr Malhotra recalls how in the 1970s, Indians enjoyed visa-free travel to many Western and European countries, but that changed after the Khalistan movement in the 1980s, which called for an independent homeland for Sikhs in India and caused internal turmoil. Subsequent political upheavals have further chipped away at India's image as a stable, democratic country.

>"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 such as how secure a country's passport is and its immigration procedures also play a role in gaining visa-free access to other countries, Mr Malhotra says.

>India's passport remains vulnerable to security threats. In 2024, the Delhi police arrested 203 people for alleged visa and passport fraud. India is also known for having cumbersome immigration procedures and a slow pace of visa processing.

>Mr Malhotra says that technological advances, like India's recently-launched electronic passport or e-passport, can improve security and ease the immigration process. The e-passport includes a small chip that stores biometric information, making it harder to forge or tamper with the document.

>But more diplomatic outreach and travel agreements remain key to boosting the global mobility of Indians and, by extension, India's passport ranking.

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