Pew Research Center has surveyed about views of India around the world for years. But what do people in neighboring South Asian countries think of India and of other nations in the region? We asked adults in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka how they view the other countries.
Of the four countries we asked about, only Sri Lanka receives more positive than negative ratings in all of the other three.
Views of India
Of the four countries we asked about, India has the broadest range in favorability. An overwhelming majority of Sri Lankans express a positive view of India, compared with 42% of Bangladeshis and 7% of Pakistanis.
When asked which country is the most important ally to their own, 63% of Sri Lankans name India. At the same time, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis most often name India as their greatest threat.
We also asked adults in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka how much confidence they have in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Modi is seen broadly positively in Sri Lanka, although less positively than India is (70% are very or somewhat confident in Modi vs. 79% who have a favorable view of India).
Only 4% of Pakistanis have confidence in Modi, slightly less than the 7% who have a favorable view of India. In Bangladesh, confidence in Modi is the same as overall favorability of India (42% each).
Views of Bangladesh
Most adults in Pakistan (66%) and Sri Lanka (56%) have positive views of Bangladesh, while a quarter of Indian adults hold this view.
Views of Pakistan
Many people express a favorable view of Pakistan in Sri Lanka (57%) and Bangladesh (54%), while very few in India do the same (8%).
When asked what country poses the greatest threat to their own, Indians also most often name Pakistan.
Views of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is the only South Asian country we asked about viewed more favorably than unfavorably in the three others surveyed. Around half of adults in each of the other nations see Sri Lanka positively, while a third or fewer see it negatively.
Views over time
South Asians’ views of their regional neighbors have shifted since 2024, when we last asked adults in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka these same questions. We did not survey in Pakistan in 2024.
- Favorability of India has decreased by 15 percentage points in Bangladesh and increased by 14 points in Sri Lanka in that time. (The share who did not answer in Bangladesh decreased by 17 points.)
Related: Public opinion of India is mixed across 36 countries
- Favorability of Bangladesh has risen by 9 points in Sri Lanka and dropped by 10 points in India since 2024. (In both countries, the share who did not answer decreased by around 10 points.)
- Views of Pakistan are warming in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh: 57% of Sri Lankans and 54% of Bangladeshis now express a favorable view of Pakistan, compared with 44% and 40% in 2024. (In Bangladesh, the share who did not answer dropped by 17 points.) The opposite is true in India, where the share of people who express a favorable view of Pakistan today is among the smallest we have ever recorded.
- Favorability of Sri Lanka has risen by 6 points in India since 2024, while the share of people with a negative view remains unchanged. (The share of Indians who did not answer has decreased somewhat.)
Views by religion
Indian Muslims feel much more positively than Indian Hindus towards the Muslim-majority countries of Pakistan (21% vs. 6%) and Bangladesh (41% vs. 23%). Still, two-thirds of Indian Muslims express a negative view of Pakistan.
In Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka, Hindus feel more positively than Muslims or Buddhists toward Modi, who has sought to tie Hindu culture and faith to India’s national policies, though most Sri Lankans across religious groups share largely favorable views of Modi. There is no significant difference between Sri Lankans of different religions in overall views of Hindu-majority India, with majorities expressing a favorable view.
Views by age and education
In Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, people with at least a secondary education express more favorable views of Sri Lanka than those with less education. In turn, Sri Lankans with more education are more favorable than those with less toward each of the other three countries.
Sri Lankan adults under 35 also feel more positively about these countries than those ages 50 and older. Similarly, younger Indians share warmer views of Sri Lanka than older Indians (54% vs. 43%). And while very few Indians of any age express favorable views of Pakistan, those under 35 feel slightly more favorably than those ages 50 and older (9% vs. 5%).
