Most Pakistanis believe India greater threat than Taliban

WASHINGTON: A majority of Pakistanis view neighbouring India as a great threat and the US as an enemy, and are less concerned about the Taliban and al Qaeda than a year ago, according to a Pew Research poll.

The Pew Research Centre surveyed 2,000 Pakistanis between April 13 and 28 for their 2010 Pew Global Attitudes Survey. The respondents were asked which was the bigger threat – Taliban, al Qaeda or India – to which 53 per cent of Pakistanis chose India over 23 per cent for the Taliban and only three per cent for al Qaeda.

About their own country, 84 per cent of the Pakistanis surveyed by Pew were dissatisfied with the state of their nation. Only 14 per cent said that they were satisfied. Only 25 per cent thought that it would be bad for Pakistan if the Taliban were to again take over Afghanistan, while 18 per cent thought that it would be a good thing and 57 per cent had no opinion of believed that it did not matter.

The respondents were less concerned about either group getting the upper hand in Pakistan – the Taliban was rated as a serious threat by 54 per cent against 73 per cent last year, and al Qaeda’s threat perception fell to 38 per cent from 61 per cent. Nevertheless, Pew noted, both groups still had an overall negative image in Pakistan with the Taliban getting a 65 per cent unfavourable rating and al Qaeda 53 per cent.

Despite billions of dollars in economic and military aid received from Washington, the US image in Pakistan was the lowest among the 22 nations included in the survey. Fifty-nine per cent of the respondents described the US as an enemy, with 17 per cent having a favorable view and only 11 per cent considering it a partner, the poll said.

However, in spite of Washin-gton’s poor rating, most Pakistanis (64 per cent) believe it was important to improve relations with the US, up from 53 per cent last year, Pew Research said.

Most Pakistanis also oppose US involvement in neighboring Afghanistan, with 65 per cent saying US and Nato troops should be withdrawn as soon as possible, and relatively few believe that the Taliban and al Qaeda pose a serious threat to their country.

Only eight per cent trusted US President Barack Obama to do the right thing in world affairs, the lowest rating of the 22-nation survey, and only 20 per cent had a favourable view of President Asif Ali Zardari, down from 64 per cent two years ago.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2010.