With India and its leader Narendra Modi aiming to put a stronger footprint on the global stage, it is interesting to see how some of our closest neighbours in the region look at us. A new survey by the Pew Research Center (PRC) is a big help in this endeavour. The survey, which was conducted among 15,313 people in 10 Asia-Pacific nations and the U.S. between April 6 - May 27, 2015, throws light on how people in some of the big economies in the region view each other. Among the big four Asian nations tested in the survey, Japan was voted most favourably by the public in the region with a rating of 71%, followed by China with 57%, India with 51% and South Korea with 47%. The author, Bruce Stokes, who is the director of global economic attitudes at PRC, writes that South Korea got a favourable rating in part due to a significant proportion of those surveyed expressing no opinion at all. Graph 1 | Create infographics How India is viewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have tried to unleash a new course of foreign policy with his personalised rapport with international leaders and the much talked-about selfie diplomacy, but it seems to have had made little impact at least in the Asia-Pacific region. When public in the region were queried about their confidence in their leaders, PM Modi was ranked third behind Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe. While none of the three leaders were able to garner majority favourable ratings, President Xi was the closest with 47% favourable rating followed by Abe with 43% and PM Modi with 39%. The author suggests that the public's lack of familiarity with the leaders could be the reason for the mixed results. "The share with positive sentiment about Modi is again larger than those with negative views, but a relatively high proportion of respondents voice no opinion, a testimony to Modi’s low public profile in the region," author Stokes writes. India, quite unsurprisingly, gets the lowest rating from the Pakistani public (16%) followed by China (24%). While India has always held grouses with its long-time traditional rivals Pakistan, it has had frequent skirmishes on the border with the Chinese army as well. On the other hand, it's positive ratings come from Vietnam (66%), South Korea (64%) and Japan (63%) - countries with which it has had largely peaceful relations.63% of Americans also hold India in positive light. Graph 2 | Create infographics The author says that much of the admiration for India come from the young Asians. Seven in 10 Vietnamese in the age group of 18 to 29 have a favourable view of India. Young Japanese and Americans who took part in the survey saw India in glowing light. Likewise, PM Modi also draws maximum support from the public in Vietnam, followed by Australia and Japan. His approval rating in Pakistan (again unsurprisingly) is a dismal 7%. Territorial disputes in China Another major point in the study worth observing is how each country looks at China through the prism of their territorial qualms with the Communist regime. Philippines (91%), Vietnam (83%) and Japan (83%) are the three countries which hold China with the maximum unfavourable ratings. All three countries have existing geographical disputes with China. Only 38% of the Indian public are 'very concerned' about territorial disputes with China.
