Six in ten Pakistanis consider India 'bigger threat' than Taliban, Al-Qaeda

Washington - Almost six out of ten Pakistanis consider India to be a bigger threat to their country than the Taliban or Al -Qaeda, a new survey has revealed.

The survey, conducted by the Pew Research Centre's Global Attitudes Project, notes that Pakistanis having a favourable view of India has slightly improved from 14 percent in 2011 to 22  percent in 2012, reports The News.

Pakistanis have consistently identified India as the top threat since the question was first asked in 2009, it noted.

Despite these negative sentiments, 62% of Pakistanis say it is important to improve relations with India, the survey found.

Most Indians also want better relations, more trade, and further talks between the two nations, Pew reported. Still, Indian attitudes toward Pakistan remain largely negative. Roughly six-in-ten  Indians (59%) express an unfavourable opinion of Pakistan, although this is down slightly from 65% in 2011.

The survey also found that following a year of tensions between their country and the United States, Pakistanis continue to hold highly unfavourable views of the U.S. and offer bleak  assessments of the relationship between the two nations.

Roughly three out of four Pakistanis consider the U.S. an enemy, and President Barack Obama is held in exceedingly low regard.

The survey was conducted from March 28 to April 13, 2012 by 1,206 face-to-face interviews of adults.