The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C., conducted a survey among 2,464 respondents in India from February 21 to March 10, 2017.
- Indians are increasingly upbeat about Prime Minister Modi, the economy and India’s direction
- Modi’s popularity extends across India — Nearly nine in ten Indians hold a favorable opinion of Modi, comparable to their view of him in 2015, after a year in office.
- Modi and BJP are more popular than the Gandhis and the Congress Party — Modi’s favorable rating is 31 percentage points higher than that of Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Congress Party, and is 30 points more than that for her son, Rahul Gandhi.
- The public is satisfied with Modi’s handling of domestic issues — helping the poor and handling unemployment, terrorism and corruption.
- The Indian public believes the national government is doing the right thing for the country — More than 85 percent voice trust in the national government, including 39 percent who express “a lot of trust.”
- The public is also quite satisfied (79 percent) with the way their democracy is currently working. This includes 33 percent who are very satisfied.
- Despite a decline, the U.S. is still more popular than China — about half of Indian adults hold a favorable view of the United States, down 21 percentage points since 2015. (Amritt interpretation: this decline is probably attributable to some of the words and actions of President Trump).
- Indian assessment of Americans (56 percent) remains positive and largely unchanged since the last time this question was asked.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
