62% of Indians want military might used to beat terror

India might love its soft power but Indians favour getting tough with the world. A majority (62%) of Indians believes using overwhelming military force is the best way to defeat terrorism, while a similar number of Indians (63%) wants to increase defence spending.

Pew Research Center's annual survey of the state of the nation found two-thirds of Indians satisfied with the direction of the country and eight in ten thought the economy was doing well.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's favourable rating remains high at 81%, though down from 87% in 2015. Bruce Stokes, director, global economic attitudes at Pew, told TOI, “These figures are striking. Modi is doing better than Barack Obama in the US or Angela Merkel in Germany .“

However, in both 2015 and 2016, Modi's lowest approval rating (53%) has been for his handling of communal relations. This is a partisan assessment, with his own party (65%) more supportive than the opposition (40%).

Roughly half or more of Indians in the survey approve of Modi's leadership style -56% believe he cares about people like them, 51% say he stands up for what he believes in and 49% say he brings people together and gets things done.

Just over half (54%) say communal relations are a very big problem. A comparable proportion (52%) say the Islamic State is a major threat to the country .

Interestingly, 68% of Indians believe air pollution is a very big problem in the country. Nearly 73% of city dwellers are very concerned about air pollution, while 65% of those living in rural areas agree. The issue is of such concern that a plurality of Indians voice the view that air pollution should be reduced, even if it means slower economic growth (47%).

Indians have little love for China. Only about a third (31%) have a favourable opinion of their emerging Asian rival. These positive views are down 10 percentage points in the past year. Sevenin-ten of those surveyed believe China's economic impact on India is a serious problem, including 45% who say it is very serious.

Nearly half (48%) of Indians think China's relationship with Pakistan poses a very serious problem for India. Then, 69% hold the view that China's growing military power is a problem for India, including 46% who say this is a very serious issue. And the same pro portion (69%) say China's territorial disputes with India are very or somewhat serious.

Eight in ten Indians view crime (82%), lack of employment opportunities (81%), corrupt officials (80%) and terrorism (78%) as very big domestic problems. Concern about the four issues is down somewhat in the past year, with the biggest drop (11%) in the intensity of worry about crime. It is notable, however, that strong concern about crime and joblessness is simply returning to the level of public anxiety in 2014 and concern about corrupt officials is returning to 2013 levels.

Support for BJP is down slightly from last year (87%), while two-thirds of Indians have a favourable opinion of the Congress, up slightly from 2015 (61%).

(TOI)