New Delhi: A new analysis by the Pew Research Centre found that while most South Asian neighbours had a favourable view of India, there was a noticeable difference in opinion among religious groups with Hindus in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh having a more positive view of the country compared to Buddhist, Muslims and Christians.
The findings, published Thursday, were meant to explore “regional dynamics in South Asia” given historical, geopolitical and religious tensions in the region since the 1947 partition of India.
Researchers concluded that most South Asians in the region view their neighbouring countries more positively than negatively.
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The study was conducted between 5 January and 25 March this year in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but researchers were not able to record responses from Pakistan. In both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, adults with more education were more likely to offer any opinion. They were also more likely to view India positively.
At first glance, the survey, by providing an idea of sentiments in the region, backs India’s policy in the neighbourhood. It appears to counter reports of rising anti-India sentiment in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh—though there is no data on the extent of change in sentiments on the ground after Hasina’s resignation. Still, it highlights room for improvement when it comes to how religious groups, apart from Hindus, view India.
Dr Smruti S. Pattanaik, a research fellow at the Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyse (MP-IDSA), told ThePrint, “I can only say views about a country are dynamic.”
“It depends on when the survey was conducted. Which is the regime in power and how it frames its relations with India. It is also influenced by developments within a particular country other than the bilateral relations,” Dr Pattanaik explained.
Views of India in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
In Sri Lanka, 65 percent of responders said they viewed India favourably compared to 19 percent who held an unfavourable view.
The study comes two years after Sri Lanka was roiled by its worst economic crisis since Independence (1948) and angry protests over the mismanagement of the economy resulted in the resignation of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. At the time, India extended a key lifeline of $4 billion to help Sri Lanka combat its balance of payments crisis. It also provided food and fuel, among other forms of aid.
To be sure, it was not clear what Sri Lankan views of India had been prior to this study and if there was a shift in attitudes.
According to the survey, 57 percent of respondents from Bangladesh had a favourable view of India as against 19 percent who held an unfavourable view.
However, the poll was conducted prior to the political crisis in July which forced the resignation of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, a close ally of India. She fled Bangladesh and is currently in New Delhi. Anger over Hasina’s 15-year rule has fed ‘anti-India’ sentiments in the country.
The survey found that respondents who were supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party were more likely to have a favourable view of India than non-supporters (71 percent to 49 percent).
Meanwhile, Indians had favourable views of Sri Lanka (43 percent) and Bangladesh (35 percent) though comparatively less positive.
Viewing India through religious lens
In both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, religion played a role in dictating how the people viewed India. While, predictably, Hindus in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had a positive view of India, the Pew survey found that other religious groups viewed India less favourably.
In Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka, seven-in-ten Buddhists, Christians and Muslims (62-67 percent) had a positive opinion of India compared to eight-in-ten Hindus, or 80 percent.
In Muslim-majority Bangladesh, 82 percent Hindus expressed a positive opinion on India compared to 54 percent Muslim respondents.
Indian Hindus had a more positive view of Sri Lanka than Muslims (44 percent to 29 percent). On the opposite end, Muslim respondents viewed Bangladesh more positively (39 percent) than Hindus (34 percent) though the gap between the two was much slimmer.
Unsurprisingly, Indians had a largely unfavourable view of Pakistan with only 12 percent viewing it favourably and a whopping 61 percent holding an unfavourable view of the country. As many as 51 percent Indian respondents said they had “very unfavourable” views of Pakistan.
Interestingly, Indian Muslims were twice as likely to have any opinion of Pakistan than Hindus (22 percent vs 11 percent).
Indians have held an unfavourable view of Pakistan since Pew first asked this question in 2013, the survey noted.
Adults who support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were more likely to have a positive view of Sri Lanka (46 percent vs 39 percent). While NDA non-supporters were likely to have a more positive view of Pakistan (15 percent vs 9 percent).
Comparatively, Sri Lankan (44 percent) and Bangladeshi (40 percent) respondents held a more favourable view of Pakistan.
Bangladesh (45 percent) and Sri Lanka (47 percent) also mostly had a positive view of each other, though a large number of respondents (34 percent in both cases) refused to answer the question or did not have an answer.
While Bangladeshi Hindus (62 percent to 44 percent) were much more positive about Sri Lanka, Buddhists (49 percent) in the island-nation were more positive on Bangladesh followed by Hindus (46 percent) and, Muslims and Christians (both 43 percent).
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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