Even Malaysia and Chile have stronger passports than India: X user challenges Zoho's Vembu

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu on Saturday engaged in a social media exchange with an X user over India's international image and passport rankings. Vembu, reflecting on India's global perception, wrote that those who have spent long periods overseas have seen a marked shift over the past decade.

"Those of us who lived abroad for a long period (like I did, 30 years spent abroad) know just how much India's image abroad has transformed in the past 10 years. That is the real yardstick. We have to thank our Prime Minister for this - and that is the reason his popularity is so high with the diaspora," he said on X.

The comment drew a response from Vijay, an X user, who questioned whether improved perception had translated into tangible benefits for ordinary Indians travelling abroad. "If India's image has transformed so much, why does our passport still rank so low? In 2025, only 59 countries allow Indians in without a pre-approved visa. Popularity with the diaspora doesn't pay for the lack of global mobility. The ‘yardstick’ of a nation's rise is how much the world trusts its citizens to enter their borders and we are nowhere near the top yet," he wrote.

Vembu responded by linking passport strength directly to economic fundamentals. "We have a vast population and our GDP per capita is still too low. Only when our GDP per capita catches up, will our passport carry value. To raise the GDP per capita 10x is a monumental effort and takes decades. I am an optimist and hope to live to see the day our Indian passport allows easy travel," he said.

Vijay, however, pushed back, arguing that economic growth alone does not fully explain passport rankings and citing examples of countries that improved mobility through diplomacy. "Agreed that GDP per capita is the ultimate long-term anchor. But look at the UAE: they didn’t wait for a 10x GDP jump to transform their passport. In just a decade, they moved from 42nd to 8th globally (184 countries) through aggressive, strategic diplomacy.

"Even Malaysia and Chile, with much lower economic heft than the G7, have far more powerful passports than ours. Low GDP per capita is a challenge, but it shouldn’t be an excuse for stagnant mobility. If the 'image' has truly shifted, our diplomats should be able to convert that into easier access today, not in 2050."

According to the Henley Passport Index, both Malaysia and Chile hold significantly stronger passports than India. Malaysia ranks 12th globally with access to 180 visa-free or visa-on-arrival destinations, Chile holds 14th with 176 destinations, and India is placed at 81st with only 57 such destinations.