66% Say Bush Is India's Friend

Exclusive Outlook—AC Nielsen OpinionPoll

Urban India is under no illusions: ‘We need America, we trustAmerica. But it’s closer to Pakistan than India.’

A historic moment will be created as soon as AirForce One ferrying President George W. Bush taxies down on the tarmac in NewDelhi. For the first time in history, two successive American presidents wouldhave chosen Delhi as their destination (Bush’s predecessor Bill Clintonvisited in 2000), symbolising the growing proximity of India and the UnitedStates. In this half-decade, the Indo-US relationship has developed sinews asnever before, to now where it’s raised hopes of George Bush and Prime MinisterManmohan Singh inking a deal on civilian nuclear energy.

Yet, the progress in Indo-US relations hasprompted critics to ask: is India getting too close for comfort with the US,relinquishing its independent foreign policy and kowtowing to Washington’sbidding? They cite the vote on Iran and the Indo-US defence cooperation pact of2005 to bolster their argument, further claiming that the nuclear deal with theUS is aimed at capping India’s nuclear capabilities and consequentlycompromising its security.

Forget the critics, what do the people think ofthe Indo-US relationship? Does the government’s overdrive in wooing the UShave the endorsement of the people? Can India trust the US, regarded worldwideas a bully intent upon having its way?

To get answers to these questions—and manymore—Outlook commissioned reputed pollsters AC Nielsen to elicit theview of urban India on its perceptions of Bush, his country and Indiangovernment policy. In all, 1,632 interviews were conducted among a cross-sectionof the public comprising the lower middle class and above. The interviews wereconducted face-to-face with the respondents at their home. Only those aware ofGeorge Bush being the US president were interviewed for the survey. The ninecities chosen for the survey were: Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore,Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Patna.