E-Paper
Do right wingers in the USA have a favourable opinion of India? Pew survey reveals startling details
In a startling outcome, the survey found that liberals(left wing) in the US have more favourable opinion towards India than the conservatives(right wing).
The recently released Pew Research Center survey has revealed details about perception of people in foreign countries including the USA about India. Among the 23 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America which were part of the survey, a median of 46% of adults hold a favorable view of India, while a median of 34% have unfavorable views.
As per the survey, in North America, people of Canada, USA, Mexico have a favourable opinion of India. In Europe, people of ten countries namely France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK have a favourable opinion of India.
The survey took the views of 3,576 U.S. adults from March 20 to 26, 2023. The survey made sure to give weightage to gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories in the U.S. adult population.
Opinion towards India as per political ideology (the Right, the Left and the Center)
The survey analysed how political ideology plays a role in the perception towards India. In a startling outcome, the survey found that liberals(the left wing) in the US have more favourable opinion towards India than the conservatives(the right wing). As per the survey, 57% left wingers have a favourable opinion of India while only 47% right wingers do so. Thus, there is a big difference of 10 percentage points. Meanwhile, 53% people with moderate(center) ideology have a favourable opinion of India.
But in other countries like Hungary, Australia and Israel, the result is opposite. As per the survey, unlike the USA, more right wing people in these three countries have a favourable opinion of India. In Hungary, 37% right wingers have a positive image of India, while only 19% do so. In Australia, 62% right wing favour India while 49% left wing do so. In Israel, 78% right wingers have favourable opinion of India while 65% left wingers do so.
Opinion of Indians towards US, Russia and China
The survey also recorded the opinion of people in India, towards US, Russia and China. Among the three countries, US has the highest postitive image among Indians followed by Russia. However, Indians see China as "unfavourable".
According to the survey, percentage of Indians who hold favourable opinion of the US, Russia and China is 65%, 57% and 26% respectively.
In the case of Russia, the numbers are particularly interesting. After taking into account the views of people of 23 countries across the world, the median favourable opinion towards Russia is just 14%. Clearly, unlike the rest of the world, Indians have a very positive image of Russia.
