Nearly eight decades after the partition of British India, Indians and Pakistanis still view one another with deep suspicion—and their perceptions of the wider world are increasingly divergent as well.
New data collected by the Pew Research Center offer a revealing snapshot of how people across South Asia view their neighbors, major powers like the United States and China, and India’s growing global role. To unpack what these findings tell us about global public opinion, Milan is joined on the podcast this week by Jacob Poushter.
Jacob is the lead author of recent Pew report titled, “India and Pakistan: Rivals with Divergent Views of the Global Order.”
He is an associate director at Pew Research Center and an expert in international survey research. He writes about international public opinion on a variety of topics—including the international image of the United States and perceptions of global threats. He is also responsible for designing survey questionnaires, managing survey projects, analyzing data and developing topics for the annual Global Attitudes Survey.
Milan and Jacob discuss the work of the Pew Research Center, the hardened views of India and Pakistan towards one another, and the two neighbors’ views of the great powers. Plus, the two discuss how India is viewed by other countries in the neighborhood and the places where India’s standing has experienced a significant decline.
Episode notes:
1. Jacob Poushter, Sneha Gubbala, and William Miner, “How do South Asians view other countries in the region?” Pew Research Center, August 13, 2026.
2. Sneha Gubbala, “Public opinion of India is mixed across 36 countries,” Pew Research Center, August 13, 2026.
3. “Neha Sahgal on Religion and Identity in Contemporary India,” Grand Tamasha, June 30, 2021.
