Bangladeshis turn cooler towards India
Bangladeshis’ favourable view of India has fallen 15 percentage points since 2024, with just 42 per cent now holding a positive view of the neighbouring country, while 54 per cent view Pakistan favourably, a new Pew Research Center survey has found.
The survey of adults in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka also found that Bangladeshis most often identified India as the greatest threat to their country, highlighting a marked shift in regional perceptions.
India’s favourability in Bangladesh was also well below the 79 per cent recorded in Sri Lanka and only slightly higher than the 7 per cent recorded in Pakistan.
Confidence in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi among Bangladeshis stood at 42 per cent, the same as the overall favourable rating for India.
Pew has surveyed views of India globally for years, but the latest study looked specifically at how people in the four South Asian countries perceive one another.
Bangladesh and India
India recorded the widest variation in favourability across the four countries surveyed.
While 79 per cent of Sri Lankans viewed India positively, the figure was 42 per cent in Bangladesh and just 7 per cent in Pakistan.
Among Bangladeshis, confidence in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do the right thing in world affairs was also 42 per cent, matching the country’s overall favourability rating of India.
Sri Lankans, meanwhile, expressed greater confidence in Modi, with 70 per cent saying they were very or somewhat confident in him, compared with 79 per cent who viewed India favourably.
Only 4 per cent of Pakistanis expressed confidence in Modi, slightly below the 7 per cent who held a favourable view of India.
Bangladesh viewed positively
Bangladesh received largely positive ratings from Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Sixty-six per cent of Pakistanis and 56 per cent of Sri Lankans viewed Bangladesh favourably, compared with 25 per cent of Indians.
Pakistan also received relatively positive ratings in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Fifty-four per cent of Bangladeshis and 57 per cent of Sri Lankans expressed favourable views of Pakistan, while only 8 per cent of Indians did so.
Indians most often identified Pakistan as the greatest threat to their country.
Views shift since 2024
Public perceptions across South Asia have changed significantly since Pew last asked the same questions in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2024.
Favourability towards India in Bangladesh has fallen 15 percentage points, while it has risen 14 points in Sri Lanka.
Views of Bangladesh have also shifted, rising 9 points in Sri Lanka but falling 10 points in India.
Pakistan has seen a notable improvement in perceptions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Favourability rose from 40 per cent to 54 per cent in Bangladesh and from 44 per cent to 57 per cent in Sri Lanka.
In India, however, favourable views of Pakistan remain among the lowest recorded by Pew.
Sri Lanka was the only country surveyed to receive more positive than negative ratings from respondents in all three other countries.
Around half of adults in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan viewed Sri Lanka favourably.
Differences by religion and age
The survey also found differences in views by religion. In India, Muslims were more likely than Hindus to express favourable views of Pakistan (21 per cent versus 6 per cent) and Bangladesh (41 per cent versus 23 per cent).
However, about two-thirds of Indian Muslims still viewed Pakistan negatively.
Age and education also influenced perceptions.
In Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, respondents with at least secondary education were more likely to view Sri Lanka favourably than those with less education.
Younger Sri Lankans were generally more positive towards the other three countries than those aged 50 and above.
In India, 54 per cent of under-35s viewed Sri Lanka favourably, compared with 43 per cent among those aged 50 and older.
