Long-term Trends and Patterns in Indian Public Opinion Toward the United States

Abstract

This chapter considers the "ups and downs" of United States (US)-Indian relations with respect to Indian public opinion, as reflected in public opinion polls over a period of twenty years, 1966-1985. The relationship between public opinion and public policy is complex in any democratic political system. India, with its sizable and articulate intellectual and foreign-policy community, and its extensive and diverse press establishment, is probably more complex than most democracies and is perhaps unique among Third World countries in the extent of the interplay between public opinion and foreign policy. The Indian Institute of Public Opinion in New Delhi has conducted surveys since 1966 on a wide range of political, social, and economic subjects. The chapter seeks to identify some "bullish" and "bearish" patterns in Indian attitudes toward the US and, by comparison, other countries. Consideration of long-term patterns in Indian public opinion toward foreign countries suggests several observations that might otherwise be obscured by short-term fluctuations in opinion polls.