Most Americans Rate India Favorably, Pakistan Unfavorably Ratings of both countries down this year from last year's high points by Joseph Carroll

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- President George W. Bush left last night for a three day trip to India and Pakistan. A recent Gallup poll finds that most Americans say they have a favorable opinion of India, but most Americans view Pakistan unfavorably. Last year, the public's ratings of both nations were more positive -- at the highest levels that Gallup has recorded. Now, ratings for both are down, back to where they were in 2004. Republicans are more inclined than Democrats to say they have a favorable opinion of both countries.

Views of India

The poll, conducted Feb. 6-9, finds that two-thirds of Americans, 66%, say they have a favorable opinion of India, while 23% say they have an unfavorable opinion. These results show a nine-point drop in India's favorable rating since last year, but the current rating is still higher than at any time before that.

Americans have rated India more positively than negatively in each of the six times Gallup has measured opinion on this matter. In 2000, 47% of Americans rated India favorably, while 38% rated it unfavorably. The favorable percentage rose to 58% in 2001 and remained at that level in 2002. Americans' favorableness toward India increased again to 61% in 2004, and then reached its highpoint in 2005, at 75%. This highpoint came a little over a month after tsunamis caused by a powerful earthquake killed tens of thousands of people across parts of Asia.

Views of Pakistan

While views of India have consistently been more positive than negative, the public's views of Pakistan have been more negative. In the current poll, only 30% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of Pakistan, while 59% have an unfavorable opinion.

Pakistan's favorable rating peaked in 2005, reaching a high of 41%. The percentage of Americans with a favorable opinion of Pakistan is down now, back to levels measured in polls conducted prior to last year's survey.

Political Views of India, Pakistan

Republicans are more likely than independents and Democrats to rate both India and Pakistan positively. The partisan gap is much larger for ratings of Pakistan than for India.

A majority of the three party groups say they have a favorable opinion of India, and there are only modest variations in the ratings of these groups -- with a 70% favorable rating among Republicans, 67% among independents, and 61% among Democrats. Similarly, a majority of all three groups rate Pakistan negatively, with Republicans (38%) much more likely to view Pakistan favorably than independents (29%) or Democrats (22%).

Republicans are slightly more likely than Democrats to give positive ratings to India in this year's survey, but in the past there hasn't been much of a difference between the two party groups. Republicans are also more likely to rate Pakistan favorably than Democrats, which has been the case in the last several polls, beginning with the first post-9/11 survey.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,002 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Feb. 6-9, 2006. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Next, I'd like your overall opinion of some foreign countries. First, is your overall opinion of [RANDOM ORDER]very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable? How about -- [INSERT NEXT ITEM]?

India

	Very favorable	Mostly favorable	Mostly unfavorable	Very unfavorable	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2006 Feb 6-9	10	56	16	7	11
2005 Feb 7-10	10	65	15	3	7
2004 Feb 9-12	8	53	23	6	10
2002 Feb 4-6	7	49	25	8	11
2001 Feb 1-4 ^	8	50	24	6	12
2000 Mar 17-19	7	40	30	8	15
^ Asked of half sample

Pakistan

	Very favorable	Mostly favorable	Mostly unfavorable	Very unfavorable	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2006 Feb 6-9	2	28	43	16	11
2005 Feb 7-10	4	37	40	9	10
2004 Feb 9-12	3	25	42	22	8
2003 Feb 3-6	2	24	42	20	12
2002 Feb 4-6	4	26	42	21	7
2000 Mar 17-19	2	19	39	20	20