Pew survey: What US, UK and others think about India at 80

At 80, India is more and more a rustic the world has an opinion about.

As India completes 79 years of independence, its international standing presents a putting research in contrasts.A Pew Analysis Middle survey performed throughout 36 international locations between February and Could 2026 reveals a global neighborhood divided down the center: a worldwide median of 45% of respondents maintain a good view of India, whereas 41% specific an unfavorable opinion.Learn extra: 80 years on, still enemy No. 1: What Indians and Pakistanis think of each otherBehind this median lies a fancy tapestry of geopolitical shifts, historic rivalries, and evolving regional alliances.From enthusiasm in Western Europe and East Africa to frosty hostility in elements of the Center East and South Asia, public notion of the world’s most populous democracy relies upon closely on the place you ask.

Neighbourhood contrasts & international scorecard

Nowhere is that this divergence extra intense than in India’s instant yard. Whereas proximity can foster cooperation, in South Asia it has produced antithetical attitudes.Sri Lanka has essentially the most beneficial view of India, with 79% of adults expressing a optimistic opinion.Pakistan sits on the reverse finish, with simply 7% viewing India favourably. The gulf between the 2 international locations displays a long time of battle, political rivalry and competing nationwide narratives.Turkey is one other main outlier. Solely 15% of Turks have a beneficial opinion of India, whereas a majority maintain an unfavourable view. Within the West Financial institution and East Jerusalem, simply 18% specific a optimistic opinion.But past these pockets of hostility, India finds appreciable goodwill throughout a lot of the world.

as India enters its eightieth yr as an unbiased nation, what does the world consider it?

Kenya and the UK rank alongside Sri Lanka among the many international locations most optimistic in the direction of India, with roughly seven in 10 adults expressing beneficial views.Majorities in Germany, Israel, Italy, Sweden, Japan and Thailand additionally see India positively.In distinction, Latin American publics specific mixed-to-negative views, alongside substantial shares of respondents who provide no opinion.The findings recommend that India’s international picture just isn’t merely a mirrored image of its diplomatic alliances.Financial ties, strategic partnerships, cultural familiarity and perceptions of India’s rising international position all seem to form how folks view the nation.

India’s picture is altering

The larger story is maybe not the place India stands right this moment, however how its picture has modified.In most international locations surveyed, opinions have remained comparatively steady since Pew final requested the query. However in 10 international locations, the change has been statistically vital — and in seven of them, India’s favourability has fallen.Turkey and Nigeria have recorded the sharpest declines since 2025, with the share of individuals expressing a beneficial opinion of India falling by 10 proportion factors in each international locations.India has additionally misplaced floor in the USA, Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico.The decline is especially putting in Bangladesh.Pew’s earlier survey there was performed in 2024. Since then, the share of Bangladeshis with a beneficial opinion of India has fallen by 15 proportion factors, leaving fewer than half with a optimistic view.On the identical time, the variety of Bangladeshis who don’t specific an opinion has additionally fallen sharply, from 24% to simply 7%. In different phrases, extra Bangladeshis now seem to have an outlined opinion of India — and that opinion has turn into significantly much less beneficial.The pattern just isn’t uniformly unfavorable, nevertheless.India’s picture has improved considerably in Germany, Britain and Sri Lanka.The share of Britons with a beneficial opinion of India has risen 11 factors since 2025, whereas Germany has recorded a six-point enhance. Sri Lanka has seen a fair larger soar, with favourability rising 14 factors since 2024.Trying additional again to 2023 reveals one other fascinating divide.Throughout a number of European international locations, India’s picture has strengthened considerably for the reason that first post-pandemic survey. In Germany, for instance, solely 47% had a beneficial opinion of India in 2023. That determine has now climbed to 63%.France has adopted an analogous trajectory. India’s favourability there has risen from 39% in 2023 to 50% right this moment.Outdoors Europe, nevertheless, the image is much less encouraging.South Korea is one instance. In 2023, 59% of South Koreans considered India favourably. Immediately, that determine has dropped to 44%.Latin America additionally tends to lean extra unfavorable, though massive numbers of individuals in a number of European and Latin American international locations don’t specific an opinion in any respect.

Politics issues too

India’s international picture can also be formed by home political ideology in some international locations.America and Canada present a putting sample: folks on the political left are extra probably than conservatives to view India favourably.Within the US, 54% of liberals specific a optimistic opinion of India, in contrast with 40% of conservatives. In Canada, the corresponding figures are 58% and 45%.Israel presents virtually the precise reverse image.There, 68% of individuals on the political proper view India favourably, in contrast with simply 46% on the left.The ideological divide underlines how perceptions of India will be tied not solely to India’s personal insurance policies, but additionally to how totally different political constituencies interpret its position on this planet.

A blended however largely optimistic international picture

So, as India enters its eightieth yr as an unbiased nation, what does the world consider it?The reply is neither uniformly celebratory nor overwhelmingly unfavorable.Pakistan and Turkey might give India the stink eye, however they signify the extra hostile finish of a wider spectrum.From Sri Lanka and Kenya to Britain, Germany and Israel, India enjoys robust optimistic sentiment in a number of strategically essential international locations.