New Delhi: India and Pakistan have sharply divergent views of the major world powers, with Indians leaning more towards the US and Russia, while Pakistanis see China as a close ally, according to the Pew Research Center’s 2026 Global Attitudes Survey.
The survey of 42,000 individuals across 36 countries, conducted between 9 February and 13 May, found that Indians feel three times more favourably towards the US than their counterparts in Pakistan and see President Donald Trump in a better light.
Data showed that while 15 percent of Pakistani adults viewed the US favourably and 12 percent were positive about Trump, the numbers for India were 45 percent and 39 percent respectively.
Similarly, while China is viewed much more favourably in Pakistan, Indians are more wary of China.
The survey found that while 54 percent of Indians view Pakistan as their greatest threat, 21 percent of Indians also view China as a top threat. Pakistanis, for their part, are highly favourable toward China, with 75 percent viewing it as a close ally.
An overwhelming 90 percent of Pakistanis view China favourably, while 83 percent view President Xi Jinping favourably, compared with only 23 percent and 25 percent of Indians.
Indians also view Russia more positively than Pakistanis. The survey showed that 58 percent of Indians have a favourable view of Russia while 51 percent view Vladimir Putin positively, compared with 39 percent and 32 percent of Pakistanis. Also, 36 percent of Indians say Russia is their closest ally and 16 percent put the US on the list. Pakistanis, on their part, consider Israel and America as their second and third greatest rivals.
While Indians displayed a considerable preference for the US, Pakistanis leaned in the Chinese direction on issues such as trustworthiness as a partner, taking other countries’ interests into account, interference in other countries’ affairs, and maintaining global peace and stability.
“Indians tend to see the United States and Russia favourably (and as their most important allies). They have unfavourable views of China, see it as a major threat and lack confidence in President Xi Jinping,” Pew Research Center said.
“Pakistanis, for their part, are highly favourable toward China and overwhelmingly name it as their top ally, while their views of Russia are more negative than positive. They also show great skepticism toward the U.S. and Israel, naming them both as major threats – though less often than they name India,” it added.
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India-Pakistan mistrust
The survey, which covered 8,162 adults across four South Asian countries, also found that nearly 80 years after the Partition, India and Pakistan still hold highly unfavourable views of each other and view one another with a high degree of mistrust.
It shows that 91 percent of Pakistanis view India unfavourably while 78 percent of Indians share a similar view about Pakistan.
An overwhelming majority in both countries also hold “very unfavourable” views towards each other, with 73 percent of Pakistanis holding a “very unfavourable” view of India compared with 65 percent of Indians with similar views.
The two countries converged on the geopolitical front, with both viewing each other as their greatest threat: 54 percent of Indians and 43 percent of Pakistanis held this view.
On whether the governments and people of both countries were committed to good bilateral relations, both Indians and Pakistanis felt that while their governments and people had tried to maintain cordial relations, it wasn’t true for the other country.
According to the survey, 65 and 79 percent of Pakistanis felt that the Indian people and the Indian government, respectively, were not truly committed, while 64 and 61 percent of Indians felt similarly about Pakistan.
World perception of India
The survey, which also measures world perceptions of India, found that public opinion about the country varied widely across 36 countries. The survey showed a median of 45 percent had a favourable view of India, while 41 percent had an unfavourable view.
It also found that India’s standing among Americans has fallen to one of its lowest levels in nearly two decades.
More Americans now hold an unfavourable view of India than a favourable one, with 45 percent of Americans viewing India favourably, while 50 percent view it unfavourably.
Pew said these ratings are some of the lowest since 2008 and the share of Americans with a favourable opinion of India has been mostly declining since 2023, when 51 percent expressed this view.
But public opinion of India in the United States varies.
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are more likely than Republicans and Republican-leaning independents to have a favourable view of India, with 50 percent of the former having a favourable view compared with 42 percent of the latter.
The perception also varied across demographic groups. Half of adults aged 65 and above view India favourably, compared with 42 percent of those between 18 and 29.
Favourability ratings of India are also very low in West Bank/East Jerusalem at 18 percent.
How South Asia views India and Pakistan
In South Asia, Bangladeshis leaned slightly more towards Pakistan than India, at 54 and 42 percent respectively. Bangladeshis often named India as their greatest threat.
Sri Lankans, on the other hand, view India more favourably than Pakistan, at 79 percent and 57 percent respectively.
Bangladeshi views of India have dropped by 15 points since 2024, but Sri Lankans have risen by 14 points. Favourability of Bangladesh has dropped by 10 points in India over the same time period. Views of Pakistan in both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have improved considerably too.
Sri Lankans also recorded the highest level of favourability towards India globally.
Indian Muslims
About a third of the Indian Muslims surveyed said that the Pakistani government and people are committed to amicable relations, considerably higher than Indian Hindus who shared the same perspective. According to the data, more Indian Muslims, or 21 percent, were favourable towards Pakistan than Indian Hindus at 6 percent. Yet, two-thirds of Indian Muslims still express a negative view of Pakistan.
Indian Muslims also tend to see China in a more positive light than Hindus, but the perception of China in India remains negative overall.
The Pakistani survey was conducted on the eve of the US-Iran talks in Islamabad, while in India the survey was held before the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests in New Delhi.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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Oh No! East and West Pakistanis are viewing India negatively. So, it is definitely and 100% India’s fault. We should therefore apologize to these 2 blemishless regions, and disregard their acts against Bharat…after all they just want to spread themselves pracefully.
This survey is an eye-opener of the deep-rooted “whatever you want to call it”. Tauba Tauba. ThankQPew.