New Delhi: A newly released report by two prominent academics has concluded, based on a series of surveys and opinion polls, that India’s global reputation has not seen improvement over the past decade, despite claims to the contrary.
The report, ‘The Modi Mirage: Illusions and Reality of India’s Global Standing and Reputation’, has been authored by Professor Irfan Nooruddin from Georgetown University and Dr Ritumbra Manuvie from Netherlands’ Groningen University. Additionally, Dr Subir Sinha from University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies is the principal advisor.
The authors highlight that the ruling party has frequently asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has bolstered India’s global standing, a narrative often amplified by the Indian media.
“Indians are highly concerned with their country’s global reputation, so whether or not Modi has succeeded in this regard is of great importance as India embarks on the largest election in history,” it said.
The report cited data from the Pew Global Attitudes Survey report of 2023, revealing that 46% of adults across 23 countries held a “favourable” view of India. Conversely, 34% expressed unfavourable views.
Within a subset of 12 countries surveyed, only 37% of adults reported having confidence in Modi, whereas a larger percentage – 40% – indicated a lack of confidence in him
In a similar Pew survey conducted in 2008, India was also generally viewed favourably, with Europeans having the most positive opinions. However, 15 years later, there has been a notable decline of around 10 percentage points across all five European countries for which previous data was available. The most significant decrease occurred in France, where 70% of adults surveyed had a favourable view of India in 2008, compared to just 39% in 2023.
In the United States, 63% had a favourable view of India in 2008, which came down to 51% in 2023.
According to last year’s survey, only 23% of Americans believed that India’s influence had increased, while 64% believed it had remained unchanged in recent years.
Further, around 40% of Americans said in 2023 that they had never heard of Modi. Among those who were familiar with him, 21% expressed confidence in his leadership, while 37% of Americans had “little or no” confidence in his ability to make the right decisions.
The YouGov poll of March 2024 for the most popular foreign politician among Americans listed Modi at Number 26, behind Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. As per the survey, 51% of Americans had heard of Modi. Out of them, only 22% had a positive view about him. The survey was topped by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The numbers were more dire in the United Kingdom as per another YouGov Poll, where only 10% view him favourably.
A more recent online survey conducted by GlobeScan and commissioned by US-based non-profit Friends of Democracy in UK, US and France in March-April 2024 found that 84% believe that their governments should advocate for human rights situation.
Around 90% were especially concerned about allegations made against Indian government to target US and Canadian citizens on their territory.
Based on the available surveys and polls, the authors stated that “Modi’s claim of having dramatically enhanced India standing in the world is a mirage”.
Concluding that the Indian media may have been complicit in spreading this “mirage”, the report said, “It also appears that India’s level of domestic backsliding and repression may account for both the downturn in India’s international reputation, and the mirage about it domestically.”
The authors also said that India’s influence “could rise quicker if it changes course toward greater respect for human rights and democratic norms”.
