According to a survey, Indians see the US as the second biggest security danger after Pakistan

According to a recent survey by the American-based global business intelligence firm Morning Consult, Indians consider America to be the second-biggest security danger after Pakistan, their neighbour. Furthermore, China was viewed as the greatest military threat to India, included 1,000 respondents. Notably, Indians blame America and NATO more for the situation in Ukraine than they do Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia.

Approximately 43% of the 1,000 participants in the study, which was released on Tuesday, believed that China posed the greatest military threat, followed by the US (22%), Pakistan (13%), and Russia (12%). Indians have strategic reasons to be wary of the Western superpower, according to Sonnet Frisbie and Scott Moskowitz, who oversaw the survey.

The survey also stated that Indians may be concerned about getting caught up in a potential battle between the US and China that “destroys regional stability, placing India at risk” as tensions between the two nations have increased. The poll, which was done back in October, also revealed that at least 60% of participants wanted the Indian government to keep buying Russian oil.

In contrast, almost 48% of participants believed that India should choose Russia over the US as its preferred military equipment supplier. According to the report, respondents were more likely to blame Washington and NATO than Putin for the situation in Ukraine; thus, this result “should not be regarded as a hint that Indians support Russia’s activities.” According to the survey, “net favorability” toward Russia among Indian adults was around 30 percentage points greater than “net favorability” toward NATO, which was also comparable to the US before the crisis.

However, the survey found that among Indian adults, Russia’s net favorability has plummeted while NATO and the United States have fared far better. The fact that India has resisted pressure from the West and maintained its neutral stance in the crisis between Moscow and Kyiv is likely due to the historic links between India and Russia that were forged throughout the Cold War and India’s post-independence period.