Indian passport holders can now travel to 57 countries visa free

New Delhi: India has significantly improved its passport ranking rising 5 spots from last year and is now ranked 80th in the latest Henley Passport Index. The current rank ties India with Senegal and Togo. Indians can now travel to 57 destinations without a visa.

Domnic Volek of the Henley & Partners Singapore said the Henley passport index ranks all of the passports according to the number of countries it has visa-free access or visa-on-arrival access. "So if we look into Indian passport currently it has a score of 57 jurisdictions out of a possible 227 where Indian passport holders can access without a prior visa and that gives them a global ranking of 80 currently," Volek said.  

Indians will still need a visa to enter 177 countries such as USA, Japan, European Union and many more.  "Whatever glamour or whatever hype was once associated with the American passport, the same hype is now associated with the Indian passport now. You could not imagine 10 years ago that there could be provision of visa on arrival or visa-less travel for 57 countries just by using an Indian passport," said Pratul Shahdeo, Jharkhand BJP Spokesperson.

Singapore has replaced Japan from its top spot and has the world's most powerful passport, as per the latest rankings, allowing Singaporeans to enter visa-free in 192 countries.