NEW DELHI: The Henley’s passport index has retained Japan on top of passport rankings as it offers visa-free access to 191 destinations around the world.
India is in the middle with a rank of 85 but three of its SAARC fellow members – Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan bring up the rear with countries in the throes of civil war such as Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
Indian passport holders can access 58 countries in the world without a prior visa and share the spot with Tajikistan.
Singapore also continues in second place since the rankings were last announced in July 2019 while South Korea and Germany are tied for third place.
Henley & Partner’s Passport Index is one of several indexes created by financial firms to rank global passports according to the access they provide to their citizens. The Henley is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.
Arton Capital’s Passport Index takes into consideration the passports of 193 UN member countries and six territories Taiwan, Macau (SAR China), Hong Kong (SAR China), Kosovo, Palestinian Territory and the Vatican.
Its 2020 index ties Japan with New Zealand at the top.