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.
{{/usCountry}}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.
{{/usCountry}}But Modi’s handling of Kashmir found the approval of a clear majority of 60%; though younger Indians in the 18-29 age group were more supportive than those aged 50 and above, by 64% to 51%. Respondents in northern India were harsher than the rest on Modi’s handling of Kashmir.
The survey found a similar regional divide in views on Pakistan. More Indians in states closer to the western border — Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — viewed Pakistan “very unfavourably” than those further away, by 69% to 61%, which was not very much.
It wasn’t clear if the survey covered respondents in Kashmir.
Most Indians surveyed also said Kashmir was a “big problem” but that number was down from 68% in 2015 to 62%, and most of them, once again, said the Indian government must use military force to deal with the situation — 63% supported more force to 8% who said they favoured less.