Key Takeaways:
- Indians perceive the United States as the second biggest threat to their country
- China, its northern neighbor, is still first while arch-enemy Pakistan came third
- A large number of Indians also blame Washington for the ongoing war in Ukraine
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Indians perceive the United States as the second biggest threat to India after neighboring China, which remains in the first place. According to a recent survey by Morning Consult, a US-based global business intelligence company, the US is a bigger threat than arch-rival Pakistan.
Within the framework of the survey, 1,000 respondents claimed that they perceive a real military threat from Washington. While around 43% of the participants see Beijing as the biggest threat, a whopping 22% identified the USA as a possible enemy. Western neighbor and arch-enemy Pakistan and historical ally Russia came third at 13% each.
“While the world’s two largest democracies would seem to make for natural partners, especially given their mutual mistrust of China, Indians have strategic reasons to be wary of the world’s Western superpower,”
Bloomberg quoted Sonnet Frisbie and Scott Moskowitz of Morning Consult saying.
The response comes amid mounting pressure on New Delhi to join the US-led sanctions against Russia.
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US threat to India a cause for concern?
While many European partners have sided with the United States, India has refused to join the anti-Russia block. Instead, the Indian Government has increased its oil imports from Kremlin, siding for economic, political, and historical reasons.
As per the survey, at least 60% of respondents want the Indian government to continue the purchase of Russian oil.
Interestingly, Indians also believe Washington and the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are more responsible for the ongoing war in Ukraine than Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As a result, 48% of participants want Russia to remain India’s preferred military equipment provider. The United States, despite posing as one of the biggest threats to India, came second at 44%.
The threat coming from China and Pakistan are well-known. Now with the USA joining their ranks, some 49% want India to continue military exercises with Russia.
As CoinChapter earlier reported, there is an increasing possibility that the United States and China will go to war over Taiwan. If that comes to pass, it would pose a massive threat to India.
“As tensions between Washington and Beijing increase, the Indian public may be worried about getting caught in the middle of a US-China conflict that destabilizes regional security, putting India at risk,“
the team in charge of the survey said.
However, the survey also found that the net favorability toward Russia among Indian adults has decreased. However, Washington has some introspecting to do if they want to find out why the US has become a big threat to India.
