New Delhi: Nearly eight decades after India and Pakistan emerged as independent countries, public opinion on both sides of the border continues to be negative. A survey by US-based Pew Research Center shows that 91% of Pakistani adults surveyed hold an unfavourable view of India. Among Indian respondents, 78% expressed a negative view of Pakistan.
Among Pakistani respondents, 73% said they had a very unfavourable view of India and another 18% held a somewhat unfavourable view. In India, 65% had a very unfavourable view of Pakistan, while 16% described their opinion as somewhat unfavourable.
The survey also found a lack of trust in the two governments’ intentions towards better relations. Others offered another explanation. They argued that discussing peace and stability between India and Pakistan has become more difficult than discussing war. Views of Chinese President Xi Jinping followed a similar pattern. The Kargil war later that year damaged those hopes.
Many people repeat the state’s narrative because they do not want to become involved in controversy, according to hem. 65% of Pakistanis said the Indian government was not committed to better relations While 57% of Indians considered their own government committed to improving ties with Pakistan. On the Pakistani government, 61% of Pakistanis saw their ruling establishment as committed to improving ties with India, while 51% of Indians did not consider Pakistan’s government committed to better relations. Only 23% of Indians surveyed had a favourable opinion of China, compared with 90% of Pakistanis. About 25% of Indians said they trusted Xi, while 83% of Pakistanis expressed confidence in him. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s 1999 visit to Lahore and the Lahore Declaration led to hopes of a new phase in relations. The 2001 Agra Summit failed to produce an agreement, followed by the December 2001 Parliament attack and another period of tension.
That constituency has weakened over the years, according to them. They said the generation that migrated during Partition is now largely gone, while younger people have grown up with a different understanding of Pakistan. They said people often hesitate to express independent views in public, particularly in schools, colleges, among young people and in professional groups. They said the political climate has also made it difficult to speak about peace. Hostility towards the other country, according to them, has become embedded in public thinking in both countries.
