A new survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center, finds that views of India are generally positive in the 23 countries where India has drawn international attention. Next week, political leaders will gather in New Delhi for the annual summit of the Group of 20, the first ever to be held in South Asia.
The new poll examines the views of India and its political leaders inside and outside India, as well as the views of Indians in other countries, and showed that an average of 46% of adults hold a positive view of India. While 34% have negative views. By comparison, views of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, collected in a subset of 12 countries, are more mixed, with a median of 37% saying they trust Modi, a median of 40% saying they don’t, and Indians more inclined to Others believe that India’s power is on the rise.
Here are some key findings from the survey of 30,861 people in 24 countries, including India, conducted from February 20 to May 22, 2023:
India power
About seven in ten Indians believe their country has become more influential recently, compared to an average of 28% in 19 countries that said the same in 2022. In those 19 countries, respondents were more likely to say that India’s influence has not changed. This has happened a lot in recent years (48% on average), but only 19% of Indians agree.
And Indians, like their counterparts in other countries, are likely to believe that India’s influence has become weaker in recent years (13% versus the 19-country average of 13%). Modi’s popularity
Modi is very popular in India, but his views are mixed internationally, with the survey showing that nearly eight in ten Indians (79%) have a favorable view of Modi, including a majority of 55% who have a very positive view. By comparison, an average of 37% in 12 countries, mostly middle-income countries, reported confidence in Modi’s ability to make the right foreign policy choices. Kenyans feel particularly confident, with 60% saying they trust Modi’s ability to do the right thing in world affairs. While Argentines were particularly skeptical, only 12% in Argentina trust the Indian leader. And at least one in ten in each of these countries does not offer an opinion on Modi.
European countries
A series of five line graphs showing a decrease in preference for India among five European countries from 2008 to 2023, as European attitudes towards India turned more negative over time, and positive views of India decreased by about 10 percentage points or more in all five European countries. Where previous data is available. The greatest change has been in France, where only 39% now have a positive view of India, compared to 70% in 2008.
It is worth noting that French adults are also less likely to have an opinion about India than they were in 2008. In all other countries, people are more or about to say an opinion about India than they were in 2008.
Russia and China
Indians are distinguished by their positive views of Russia. While an average of only 14% in 22 countries have a positive view of Russia, a majority of 57% of Indians view Russia positively. Indians are also the most likely to trust Russian President Vladimir Putin to do the right thing in world affairs of all the people surveyed. Similarly, the United States is viewed more favorably in India (65%) than in many other countries surveyed. And when it comes to China, India stands out for the opposite reason, as it is the only middle-income country surveyed where a majority has negative views of China.
Pakistan and abroad
Negative attitudes toward Pakistan persist in India. Nearly three-quarters of Indian adults have a negative view of Pakistan, and this includes the 57% who have a very negative view. Indians’ views of Pakistan have been consistently unfavorable since the question was first asked in 2013, and the percentage of those holding an unfavorable view of the country has never fallen below 60%.
Outside India, many of the countries surveyed do not offer an opinion on India or Modi. In the United States, this includes 40% of those who say they have never heard of Modi. Some groups are more inclined to provide both answers, and this includes highly educated men in many countries. Younger adults are also generally more likely to offer their opinion about India. Within India, a quarter or more of them do not offer their opinion of the two leaders of the Indian National Congress: Mallikarjun Karg and Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary.
India’s global influence:
