When President Obama visits India, he will visit a country in which both he and the nation he leads are broadly popular. Fully 73% of Indians express confidence that the American president will do the right thing in world affairs. Undoubtedly, there is much personal affection for Obama, but the Indian public was positive about America and its president before his administration. While much of the world was hostile to President Bush, especially after the Iraq war, a majority of Indians expressed confidence in him in surveys from 2005 to 2008. America’s image has also been positive in Pew Global Attitudes surveys dating back to 2002. Currently, two-thirds express a favorable opinion of the U.S. Also, 83% say the U.S. takes the interests of countries like India into account when it makes foreign policy decisions — the highest percentage among the 21 nations surveyed outside the U.S. Read More
