Sri Lankan passport placed 97th in world rankings

COLOMBO (The Island/ANN) - Henley Passport Index ranks the Sri Lankan passport at 97th place in the global index and as the fourth most powerful passport in South Asia for the year 2020.

Henley Passport Index, which ranks all of the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa, has listed the Sri Lankan passport as the fourth most powerful passport in South Asia for the year 2020.The Maldives passport has been recognised as the most powerful passport among the eight South Asian countries.India, ranking globally at the 84th position, holds the second strongest passport in the South Asian region, followed by Bhutan, ranked globally at the 89th position.Sri Lanka in the global index has been ranked at the 97th place. It is immediately followed by Bangladesh at the 98th place. Nepal has been ranked at 101, while Pakistan and Afghanistan have been ranked at 104 and 107 places respectively.Offering visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to a total of 191 destinations, Japan is at the top of the index, with Singapore at the second place with a score of 190.South Korea and Germany are tied at the third position with 189 countries allowing nationals of both countries entry without prior-visa.This Asian domination of the top spots is, according to Henley & Partners chairman and inventor of the passport index concept Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, "a clear argument for the benefits of open-door policies and the introduction of mutually beneficial trade agreements." Kaelin explains, "Over the past few years, we have seen the world adapt to mobility as a permanent condition of global life. The latest rankings show that the countries that embrace this reality are thriving, with their citizens enjoying ever-increasing passport power and the array of benefits that come with it.""As ongoing research shows, these benefits are extensive."Ugur Altundal and Ömer Zarpli, of Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh, in a research with Henley data, has found a strongly positive correlation between travel freedom and other kinds of liberties – from the economic to the political, and even individual or human freedoms.

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  • Lankan passport placed 97th in world rankings

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