Only 18 per cent of Pakistanis sees India as No. 1 threat

Only 18 per cent of Pakistanis say India is their country’s greatest threat, says an Al Jazeera-Gallup poll. The country that nearly two-thirds of Pakistanis fear the most is the United States. Cross-border view

Only 18 per cent of Pakistanis say India is their country’s greatest threat, says an Al Jazeera-Gallup poll.

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The country that nearly two-thirds of Pakistanis fear the most is the United States. And though they get the most global attention, the Pakistani Tali-ban are priority concern for about only one in 10 Pakistanis.

The poll also measured threat perceptions among Pakistanis on the basis of ethnicity, age and gender. The profile of a Pakistani least hostile to India: a Sindhi woman over the age of 50. Her polar opposite would be a Pashtun man under 30.

Curiously, the poll indicated supporters of Nawaz Sharif were the least likely to see India as Enemy Number One (only 16 per cent) while backers of the Awami National Party and Muhajir Quami Movement were the most likely to do so (26 per cent each). Only one in five of religious parties supporters said India was their country's main threat.