71% Indians view Pakistan unfavourably, says new survey
WASHINGTON: Indians don’t feel much love for Pakistan, not after three-and-half wars and a steady flow of cross-border terrorism, and a new survey shows they have soured on their western neighbour considerably in recent years, with almost two-thirds (64%) of them holding a “very unfavourable” view of Pakistan.
Overall, more than seven out of 10 (71%) Indians view Pakistan “unfavourably”, according to a survey by Pew Research Center conducted last spring, which was much higher than 54% “unfavourable” in 2013, when the agency started tracking the trend.
The dislike for Pakistan cuts across party lines, the survey found — 70% and 63% of supporters of the BJP and the Congress said they held a “very unfavourable” view of Pakistan, which pointed to a national consensus on taking a hard line on ties with the western neighbour.
Yet, Indians were not happy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of relations with Pakistan, taking a line which has been anything but hard, despite his invitation to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to attend his swearing-in in 2014, and a surprise visit to Lahore in 2015.
Only 21% of Indians approved of Modi’s handling of Pakistan, the survey found, which has been consistent since 2015, when the research body first asked that question — that was the year of Modi’s visit to Pakistan to meet Sharif, just weeks after they had met in Paris on the sidelines of climate talks.