Dismantling the Paper Walls: Towards a Greater Weight of the Indian Passport

Introduction 

“I love my country, but not my passport.” This discordance between India’s civilisational legacy, growing geopolitical and economic influence, and the passport that remains the global pariah highlights the paradox of the contemporary world. India is the fourth largest economy in the world with a strong voice in the current geopolitical setup, reflecting its prowess, and yet, its passport languishes at 82nd rank globally according to The Henley Passport Index, offering visa-free access to just 58 countries, fewer countries than Rwanda or Uganda. The “visa racism” is not merely the result of diplomatic failure but a manifestation of structural inequity. Global mobility is determined through metrics like fragility score, count of visa rejections, and economic stability, which are often misleading. This op-ed questions the hypocrisy of the world that profits from Indian travellers, who spent around thirty billion dollars in 2024 alone, yet subjects them to visa biases.

Trapped Behind Paper Walls

The Henley Passport Index, which quantifies visa-free access using International Air Transport Association (IATA) data, ranks India at 82nd place due to access to just 58 nations, fewer than Venezuela (crisis-ridden), Argentina (hyperinflation), and even Rwanda. This disparity underlines the flaws in methodologies that prioritise historical alliances over equitable global participation. To compete with the global leaders, such as Singapore, it is imperative for India to be at parity with its economic and regional peers. For example, Brazil, China, and South Africa, fellow BRICS nations, leverage regional partnerships and diplomatic advances for better mobility. India’s institutional resilience of peaceful democratic transitions since independence, a $4 trillion GDP, and leadership in global forums like the G20, yet Indian travellers face extensive scrutiny. Bank statements, employment proofs, and tax returns are requisite to visit nations like the United States (US) or the European Union; such requirements are rarely imposed on citizens of whiter nations and therefore cloak the colonial “pass law”. This substantiates the concept of ovarian lottery, as termed by Warren Buffett, which means the fortuitous birthplace decides the opportunities. Such disparities are not merely diplomatic failures but structural biases rooted in systems that equate South Asian countries with risk. 

The vision of a postcolonial world order fades at immigration counters, where 21st-century visa regimes translate colonial past as “visa racism”. The Schengen Zone rejects 12 per cent of Indian visa applications, triple the rate of Chinese applicants. The modern visa process, claimed as neutral, is the manifestation of old prejudices as it assumes Indians lack the “inherent trustworthiness” to return home. This bias is encoded in the algorithms, as studies show that facial recognition technology is rigged; the error rate for light-skinned men is 0.8 per cent, compared to 34.7 per cent for darker-skinned women, according to a 2018 study titled “Gender Shades”, published by MIT Media Lab. The Henley Passport Index clearly shows the privileges of nations aligned with Western geopolitical interests. Venezuela, despite hyperinflation, is better ranked than India. The economic hypocrisy is glaring. Indian tourists spent $12.7 billion abroad in 2022 and around $18 billion in 2024, yet their mobility is seen with suspicion. Global mobility is governed by “neutral metrics” like fragility scores and visa lotteries, encompassing systemic inequities that penalise nations like India. The world’s fourth-largest economy, India, with 6.3 per cent gross domestic product growth, is labelled high risk by indices like the Fragile States Index (FSI). Such scores humiliate democratic diversity with instability. 

Paper Walls to Bridges

The converse trajectory of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States (USA) in global passport rankings explains the role of diplomacy, economic strategy, and systemic inequities that shape mobility rights. The UAE’s passport was ranked 62nd in 2006, and now is 8th on the Henley Passport Index because of transactional diplomacy. For example, the 2019 Airbus procurement deal that secured Schengen access to the UAE and the “Golden Visa” program offered residency to investors and professionals, and this attracted $45 billion in foreign capital between 2019 and 2023. The pragmatic approach explains that passport power is negotiable and economic opportunities can be leveraged for mobility gains. On the contrary, the USA’s decline from 1st (2014) to 10th (2025) is the result of a myopic view of the world. The inward-looking policies, such as the Travel Ban of 2017 and increased H-1B visa denials, eroded its soft power and resulted in reciprocal visa restrictions. Some nations like Brazil and Turkey imposed visa requirements on US citizens, therefore shrinking their mobility freedom. The case study is imperative for India to understand how trade can foster its soft power. For example, India’s ongoing Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the European Union should try to include market access to the Schengen visa, similar to the UAE’s Airbus precedent.

Visa Diplomacy: Tearing Down Paper Boundaries

India’s pursuit of global mobility equity demands focus on assertive diplomacy to get through systemic barriers and firm internal security measures to address the vulnerabilities that compromise our security and global image. Recent events such as the Pahalgam attack have surfaced the risks posed by cross-border infiltration and unauthorised migration. Reports suggest thousands of unauthorised Pakistani nationals reside in India and have voted in the elections as well, which poses a serious security threat. These security lapses not only threaten our domestic stability but also provide reasons for nations like the UK and the EU to justify their restrictive visa policies towards India, citing threats like fraudulent documentation. 

To negotiate visa equity, India must establish airtight border controls to overcome the security risks and ensure the credibility of its passport. In 2024, over 200 cases of passport fraud were reported, and 142 agents were detained, which included Pakistani nationals using fabricated Indian documents, hence validating the global apprehensions towards India. To counter this, biometric authentication can be done via Aadhaar-linked applications, similar to Estonia’s blockchain visas. A Visa and Security Task Force, jointly led by the Home Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry, can institutionalise this to anchor the Indian passport. Domestically, regular audits of the National Population Register (NPR) and crackdowns on illegal residents, as seen in Gujarat, where over 500 Bangladeshi nationals were detained, will certainly normalise this alarming situation. The second step would be leveraging the global ties. Since India has supplied around 300 million Covid-19 vaccines through the Vaccine Maitri initiative, it should capitalise on this opportunity to strengthen the passport by diplomatic means from its beneficiaries. We can take inspiration from the successful journey of the UAE. Lucrative policies can be devised to attract foreign capital, therefore strengthening the overall image. Global organisations can also serve as a means to counter the disparities. For example, BRICS nations can develop a mobility index based on the realities of the 21st century to create a non-biased and just reflection of the world.

To counter outdated stereotypes and amplify India’s global narrative, India needs to rebrand its image. Despite housing the world’s third-largest number of billionaires and a booming $4 trillion economy, its “The Slumdog Millionaire” tag does not seem to wash away. India needs to share its story and narrative with the world. The story of innovation and prosperity is highlighted by India’s tech dominance, as we are home to 5.8 million information technology professionals and booming startups like Zomato, Zepto, and Flipkart. By the interplay of transactional diplomacy, leveraging global ties, ensuring internal security and rebranding itself, India can translate its geopolitical stature into passport equity, ensuring better global mobility. 

Conclusion

To condense the op-ed, India’s passport can rise not by begging, but by branding its booming economy and the civilisational idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The world is one family). Practical diplomacy, airtight borders, and establishing global ties, will help India fight visa racism. It is quite crucial to analyse and learn from the successes and failures of other nations. India must calibrate a pragmatic strategy like the UAE to enhance its global value, while being equally cautious to avoid pitfalls.  It would be when Indian CEOs descend as swiftly across the borders as the UK's investors, when melanin would not be associated with threat, the seemingly tough paper walls will crumble.

The author, Nairaa Gandotra, is a Junior Editor at Ramjas Political Review.

Featured image credit: India Today