HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX 2019

 

For: Preliminary & Mains

Topics covered: Key findings of henley passport index 2019, India Vs. Global performance, About Henley Index

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News Flash

India ranked 86 of 187 countries in 2019, while in 2010 it was ranked 77.

• The “strength” of the Indian passport (countries it has visa-free access to) has weakened in the last decade.

“Visa-free access” means passport holders can also obtain a visa (visitor’s permit) on arrival.

• Indian passport holders have visa-free access to 58 destinations.

 

Findings

• The United Arab Emirates bettered its rank by 45 places, the highest.
• Nigeria and Syria were at the bottom.
• China was ranked 74th in 2019, advancing 14 places between 2010 and 2019.
• Brazil was ranked 18th in 2019, advancing 10 places in this period.
• Russia, which was ranked 51st in 2019 (slipping two places), South Africa (seven places).
• Singapore and Japan have visa-free access to 189 destinations.
• Iraq and Afghanistan passports were at the bottom of the table (but they still have access to over a 100 countries).

 

Reasons for the decline

According to the Index,

Countries moving towards nationalist isolationism and away from policies that encourage visa openness are likely to drop in the rankings and incur geopolitical consequences for themselves and their neighbours.

 

Henley Passport Index

• HPI is a global ranking of countries according to the travel freedom for their citizens.
• It started in 2005 as Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index (HVRI) and was modified and renamed in January 2018.
• In collaboration with the International Air Transport Association, and based on official data from their global database, Henley & Partners has analysed the visa regulations of all the countries and territories in the world since 2006.
• The index provide a ranking of passports and in-depth picture of travel freedom, including which countries one can access with which type of visa, how your passport has changed over the last 14 years, how your passport compares to other passports, why your passport has the level of access it does, and which additional passports would improve your mobility.

 

Source: The Hindu

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