Bangladesh gets mixed regional ratings
Bangladesh is viewed more positively in Pakistan and Sri Lanka than in India, according to a new Pew Research Centre survey, highlighting a marked contrast in public perceptions of the country across South Asia.
The survey, made public on 13 August, found that 66 per cent of Pakistanis and 56 per cent of Sri Lankans expressed a favourable view of Bangladesh, compared with only 25 per cent of Indians.
Positive perceptions of Bangladesh have also shifted notably since 2024. In Sri Lanka, the share of respondents with a favourable view of Bangladesh rose by nine percentage points, while it fell by 10 points in India.
In both countries, the proportion of respondents who did not provide an answer declined by around 10 percentage points.
The survey also found that favourable views of Pakistan were relatively high in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, at 57 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively, but stood at just 8 per cent in India.
India showed the widest variation in favourability ratings among the four South Asian countries surveyed. While an overwhelming majority of Sri Lankans held a positive view of India, only 42 per cent of Bangladeshis and 7 per cent of Pakistanis did so.
Of the four countries, Sri Lanka was the only one to receive more positive than negative ratings from respondents in each of the other three countries, according to the survey.
Views of India in Bangladesh have deteriorated significantly since 2024, with favourable ratings falling by 15 percentage points. Over the same period, favourable views of India in Sri Lanka increased by 14 points. The share of Bangladeshis who did not answer the question also dropped by 17 percentage points.
The survey further examined perceptions of regional alliances and threats. When asked which country was the most important ally to their own country, 63 per cent of Sri Lankans identified India.
“Bangladeshis and Pakistanis most often name India as their greatest threat,” the survey said.
Respondents in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were also asked how much confidence they had in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
Modi received a broadly positive assessment in Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh, 42 per cent of respondents said they had confidence in him to do the right thing in world affairs, while the figure was just 4 per cent in Pakistan.
The findings point to increasingly divergent public perceptions of Bangladesh and India across the region, particularly in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, where views of the two neighbouring countries have moved in opposite directions since 2024.
