Most Indians view China as threat, war with Pakistan in next 10 years - poll

NEW DELHI, May 20 (KUNA) -- About 83 percent of Indians see China as a threat while 94 percent believe war with Pakistan in next 10 years remains a possibility, an opinion poll results released in New Delhi Monday.
The findings of opinion poll titled 'The India Poll 2013, Facing the Future: Indian Attitudes to the World Ahead' conducted by Australia India Institute-AII (Australia-based) was released by Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
The poll, conducted on behalf of the AII and the Lowy Institute for International Policy, provides intriguing insights into the issues concerning Indians today.
While 83 percent of those polled saw China as a threat, 63 percent would like ties with Beijing to strengthen.
"The poll suggests that Indians are deeply apprehensive about the perceived threats posed by China, but most want better relations with Beijing and would welcome a reconciliatory move towards Pakistan by the Indian political leadership," Professor Mattoo, one of the authors of report said.
Opinions of 1,223 adults were taken by the team that conducted the poll.
Another author, Director of the International Security program at the Lowy Institute, Rory Medcalf said, "with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visiting India, the poll results suggest that China and India face major challenges in achieving trust and cooperation." Indians surveyed in the polls also felt more warmly towards the US than to any other country, with 75 percent in support of closer ties.
An overwhelming majority of Indians polled (80-85 percent) considered potential shortages of energy, food and water as 'big threats' to their country's security. The research also found that 92 percent of respondents felt corruption has increased in the past five years.
The survey said Pakistan continues to be seen as a major threat by 94 percent Indians because of the country's nuclear weapons and its claims over Kashmir - a disputed Himalayan territory controlled by India, Pakistan and China.
The poll results say that 78 percent Indian's consider Pakistan a major threat, 73 percent believed that Pakistan was at a risk of collapse and 93 percent believed that "forces" in Pakistan use Kashmir as a reason to keep fighting with India.
Meanwhile 94 percent saw a war with Pakistan in the next 10 years as a "threat" with 74 percent identifying it as a "big threat." Pakistan ranks lowest in terms of warmth of feeling in the list of 22 countries. Nearly 80 percent of Indians think Pakistan's government and society is worse than India's, and only five percent think it is better.
Up to 72 per cent felt that trade and economic cooperation would bring peace between the two countries, while 67 percent felt that without an agreement on Kashmir peace would not be possible between both countries.
The poll also suggests that anti-Americanism, once a defining feature of Indian public opinion, is now part of history. Indians, not only, feel more warmly towards the US than any other country, but see it as a role model in terms of governance.
The poll results further showed that 83 percent feel that India's relations with US are strong, while only four percent think they are weak; 75 percent want them even stronger and only one percent want them weaker. Seventy-eight per cent of Indians believe their country would be better off if its government and society worked more like the US. (end) mub.bs KUNA 202105 May 13NNNN