Indians and Pakistanis negative about each other?

Indians and Pakistanis negative about each other
Daily Times, September 24, 2006

WASHINGTON: Notwithstanding recent confidence building measures and the peace process between India and Pakistan, people from both countries continue to view each other “unfavourably”, said an international survey report.

According to the Pew Global Attitudes Project survey released on Thursday, 50 percent of Indian respondents found Pakistanis unfavourable and only 33 percent viewed them as being favourable, whereas 67 percent of the Pakistani respondents thought of Indians as unfavourable.

People in China and Japan also expressed unfavourable views of Pakistan, while only the Chinese had negative feelings for India. Also, more than half of American respondents had unfavourable views of Pakistan.

The report said that around 70 percent Indians supported improved relations with the US, while 75 percent of those who knew about the proposed nuclear deal between the US and India supported it. Around 43 percent Pakistanis said that US-India relations had improved, and they were divided over whether this was a positive development. Only 16 percent of Pakistanis thought that relations between the US and neighbouring India had not improved, whereas 42 percent were unable to offer an opinion. There was no consensus in Pakistan about the direction of US-Pakistan relations — roughly 49 percent said relations had improved in recent years, while 20 percent believed they had not improved and 30 percent offered no opinion. An overwhelming majority of those who said relations had grown stronger believed this was a positive development.

The report said that Indians were divided over whether US-Pakistan relations had strengthened in recent years. Around 40 percent of the people questioned said that ties between the US and Pakistan had improved, whereas 41 percent believed they had not, and 19 percent said they were not sure. According to the report, those who thought relations had improved considered this a positive trend.

The report said that people from China and Japan also showed equal dislike for each other. Roughly seven-in-ten Japanese expressed an unfavourable view of China and an equal number of Chinese said they disliked Japan, it added.

The report said that despite the negative views that the Chinese and Japanese had about one another, in neither country did a majority see the other as an adversary because around a third of both the Chinese and Japanese thought of the other country in this way. However, in Japan, 53 percent considered China a serious problem, and 34 percent of the Chinese said the same about Japan.

The report said a majority of Indians believed that China would overtake the US as the dominant power of the world, although the Chinese themselves were less optimistic about it. The survey of six nations — India, Pakistan, China, Japan, US and Russia — found that Chinana’s growing military strength was seen as a threat by neighbours India, Russia and Japan. sana