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Pakistan remains least favored nation in India
Pakistani motor cyclists move a camel they bought from a market to sacrifice later in the upcoming Eid al-Adha in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday
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Pakistani motor cyclists move a camel they bought from a market to sacrifice later in the upcoming Eid al-Adha in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, is celebrated to commemorate the prophet Ibrahim's faith in being willing to sacrifice his son. (AP/B.K. Bangash) (AP/B.K. Bangash)
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span class="inline inline-center">Pakistani motor cyclists move a camel they bought from a market to sacrifice later in the upcoming Eid al-Adha in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, is celebrated to commemorate the prophet Ibrahim's faith in being willing to sacrifice his son. (AP/B.K. Bangash)
Pakistan is the least favored nation in India with only 18 per cent seeking better relations with the neighboring state while 64 per cent wanting to stay away from it, says a new survey released here on Thursday.
The survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center claims that nearly three-quarters see Pakistan as posing 'a very serious threat to India'.
The survey also describes Pakistan as 'a long-running and particularly neuralgic problem in India-US relations'.
But more and more Indians now see the US government being on their side in the India-Pakistan conflict.
About 45 per cent Indians say American policy favors India rather than Pakistan while only 12 per cent say it is otherwise. This is a ratio of nearly four-to-one.
An additional 28 per cent believe that Washington's policy on the subcontinent fairly balances between Delhi and Islamabad. In 2013, 36 per cent thought the US favored India, while 12 per cent said Pakistan.
Just 43 per cent have a positive view of Russia, relatively unchanged over the past few years. About four-in-10 (41 per cent) see China favorably, yet that sentiment is up 10 points from 2014.
And just 28 per cent are favorably disposed towards Iran. In each case, those with at least some college education have a better opinion of other countries than do those with a primary education or less.
But, for many Indians, especially those living in rural areas, other countries are truly foreign. Roughly four-in-10 Indians express no opinion about Iran and Russia, almost three-in-10 have no view on China, and about two-in-10 say they don't know how they feel about the US.
And about six-in-10 (63 per cent) say it is more important for India to have strong economic ties with the US, compared with just 14 per cent who hold the view that a closer commercial relationship with China would be in India's best interest.
A year after an election swept the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into power, public satisfaction with India's direction has nearly doubled while pride in the country is up, as about two-thirds of Indians have a very favourable view of current Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (k)(++++)
