Uri Attack: Majority of Indians want military action against terrorism and increase in defence spending, says Pew Survey

The survey conducted by Pew Research center said that more than three in five Indians believe that military force is the best way to defeat international terrorism.

Updated: September 20, 2016 6:01 PM IST

By India.com News Desk

Uri Attack: Majority of Indians want military action against terrorism and increase in defence spending, says Pew Survey

New Delhi, September 20: There has been plenty of talk about a stern message to Pakistan, in the aftermath of the attack on Army base in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir. One can see calls for action against India’s troublesome neighbour in the media, on social media and in conversations. Now, the fact that majority Indians want military operations against terrorism across the border, is backed by figures. According to a recently released survey, majority of Indians- over 60%- believe that it is necessary to use “overwhelming military force” to defeat terrorism around the world. Almost the same percentage were also in favour of increasing defence expenditure of the country.

The survey conducted by Pew Research center said that more than three in five Indians believe that military force is the best way to defeat international terrorism. Only 21 per cent respondents believed that relying on such force would lead to increased hatred and increase in terrorism. The sample of the survey (the people who were asked to respond to the survey) included 2,464 people from India’s capital Delhi and 15 of the 17 most populous states of the country, between April and May. The results of the survey were released on Monday, just a day after a deadly militant strike on the Army base in Uri, left 18 soldiers dead and lead to national outrage, with many demanding tough action against Pakistan. Amongst the questions in the survey, were also questions about whether the respondents thought that India played a major role in global future.

About 70 per cent of the respondents did feel that thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts, India has, in the current times, come to play an important role in global affairs. About half the respondents were however, not happy with the PM’s diplomatic strategies towards the country. Only 22 per cent, on the other hand, approved of the way that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government had handled India-Pakistan relations. Quoting the report on the Pew survey, Hindustan Times said, “Notably, however, more than half of BJP supporters (54%) and a plurality of Congress party adherents (45%) disapprove of the prime minister’s handling of relations with Pakistan.” ALSO READ: Uri terror attack: What military, diplomatic options are available for India – can they be used against Pakistan?

The report came on the day after a high level meeting of the top government officials was held and which ended with the conclusion that a knew-jerk reaction to the Uri attack, was not going to do India any good. PM Modi himself was against any immediate response and instead favoured an investigation and a systematic exposure of Pakistan’s role in spreading terrorism in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, on global fora. The survey also questioned respondents on what they thought about India’s relations with China and the way the current government is handling them. Majority thinks that Beijing posed serious challenges for India. Seven in ten respondents thought that China’s economic impact on India was a serious problem.

Over 40 per cent viewed it as very serious. Nearly half the respondents also thought that Beijing’s close relations with Pakistan pose a problem for India, while 21 per cent thought it was somewhat a problem. The survey also discovered that the Indians that considered China a serious threat to India, were most likely to favour an increase in defence expenditure. Overall, the satisfaction of India’s public with the direction that the country is headed in has increased 36 percentage points from 2013, which was the year that the Narendra Modi government came to power. Indians’ view of the economy has also improved by 23 percentage points. However, large majorities still believe that high crime rates, corruption, ack of employment opportunities and terrorism, remain important national malaise.

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