Hindustan Times
Among friends?
The fact that Americans rate Canada so favourably — top slot in a Gallup poll — is no surprise. They share much more than a long border. Australia coming in second, despite the many miles in between, might surprise some. But the real surprise has been India finishing in the top 10, ahead of Israel.
Even if you were to allow that this was a poll of American people and their government, the final ranking does tell a story or three, doesn’t it?
Anecdotally, you do see a lot of evidence of this new love (new love, really?) Actually, not so new. India was in the same position last year.
I have many neighbours who have either been to India — mostly on business; a disproportionately large number to Bangalore. Or they have had some exposure to India — mostly through food.
Butter chicken remains a favourite, with some daring into uncharted waters — anything spicier.
A friend we had over for dinner complained the food we served was nowhere as spicy as he had expected. Yes, he complained about that –he has promised to try chettinad cuisine next time he is India.
Getting back to the Gallup poll, India seemed the only surprise, leading such close US allies as Israel, Saudi Arabia and Mexico; and trailing Canada, Australia, Great Britain, German, Japan and France.
Does that make India an ally, a partner or just a friend? India — as the government, not Indians the people — doesn’t like to be called an ally. “Natural allies” is the closest it has allowed, a term coined by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Partners, I think, is India’s chosen description.
The bottom five were the usual suspects: Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran. Please note: two of the three axis-of-evil countries figure there — the third, Iraq, figures a little higher
Are you wondering if China figures anywhere on the list at all? Americans don’t think much of China it seems, and consigned it to the bottom half, just ahead of Cuba and Libya. And it seemed to have fared worse than the last count, in 2011.
“Only one country this year — China — suffered a real decline among Americans, with its favorable rating falling from 47% in 2011 to 41% today,” Gallup said in a report on the poll. However, China’s favorable rating has been in this range for the past decade, it added.
China scored the highest — 72% — in 1989, after then president George H W Bush’s state visit. But then China and the US have seen much happen since — China is the world’s second largest economy, for one.
