India’s favourability among Americans has fallen to 45 percent, while 50 percent now hold an unfavourable view of the country, placing its ratings among the lowest recorded since Pew Research Center began tracking American opinion of India in 2008.
The share of Americans viewing India favourably has declined from 51 percent in 2023, according to Pew’s 2026 survey covering 36 countries.
The survey found that views of India were also strongly negative in Pakistan and Turkey. Only seven percent of Pakistanis expressed a favourable opinion of India, compared with 91 percent who viewed it unfavourably.
In Turkey, 15 percent held a favourable view, while 72 percent expressed an unfavourable opinion.
India also received more negative than positive ratings in Bangladesh, where 42 percent viewed it favourably and 51 percent unfavourably.
Pew stated that favourable opinion in Bangladesh had fallen by 15 percentage points since the previous survey in 2024.
Negative views also outweighed positive ones in Malaysia, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Australia and South Korea.
Malaysia recorded 41 percent favourable and 58 percent unfavourable views, while the corresponding figures were 18 percent and 56 percent in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In Australia, 44 percent expressed a favourable opinion compared with 55 percent unfavourable, while South Korea recorded 44 percent favourable and 47 percent unfavourable views.
Pew said India’s favourability had declined significantly in several countries since the previous survey.
The largest falls were recorded in Bangladesh, where the figure dropped 15 points, followed by Turkey and Nigeria with 10-point declines, South Africa with eight, Indonesia with seven and Mexico with six.
The survey was conducted from February 9 to May 13, 2026, among 42,092 people across 36 countries.
