Indian passport holders have limited access
That much of the world significantly restricts the travel of Indians abroad is reflective of this country's low standing in the international community as well as New Delhi's failure to get its citizens a better deal. For all the talk about its soft power, its legacy of peace and friendship, and even its aspirations to be a superpower, the fact remains that even today India’s citizens are not welcome with open arms, especially in the developed world. Only 52 countries don't require travellers with an Indian passport to get a visa — that is just a few more than those travelling with a Pakistani passport or an Afghan passport, who get visa-free access to the least number of countries.
But while Pakistan is just one step away from being written off as a failed state and Afghanistan is a veritable battlezone, India is peaceful, politically stable and by some estimates even a regional economic powerhouse. Yet, it finds itself at the bottom of a global index that ranks countries based on freedom of travel. Compiled by Henley & Partners, a firm that works on international residence and citizenship planning, in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association that represents global airlines, the index ranks India at 74 alongside Uzbekistan, and only a few notches above Iran.
Much of Europe and America are on the other end of the spectrum as travellers holding passports from these countries can visit more than 170 countries without a visa. While this is on expected lines, a comparison of India with other emerging economies is telling. Take the BRICS countries, for example. Brazil is ranked far ahead at 19, Russia at 41 and South Africa at 42. Only China is ranked below India (74) at 82. But China has an autocratic regime which means that the possibility of many Chinese travellers not returning to their home country is high.
This is a problem that experts believe India has as well, because Indians sometimes end up as economic refugees or illegal immigrants in the West. Indeed, Britain's proposal to levy a £3,000 refundable bond on visitors from India, alongside those from Bangladesh, Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sri lanka — all deemed to be high-risk travellers — was supposedly in response to this. But the fact that the proposal has since been put on hold (and may only be implemented in ‘select cases', if at all) indicates that there is more to the story.
For one, there is little proof that the number of Indians who stay back illegally in Britain (or elsewhere, for that matter) is vastly more than the number who travel legally for leisure and business, and in the process contribute to the economic progress of the host country. One may even extend this argument to include the Indian diaspora, which around the world is hailed as a ‘model minority'. Against this backdrop, blaming illegal Indian immigrants for visa restrictions is just taking the easy way out. New Delhi needs to do its part as well — it can start by simplifying its own visa policies.