The Countries Giving India Its Strongest Global Ratings

India’s global image is often discussed through the language of diplomacy: strategic partnerships, trade agreements, defence cooperation, technology, the Global South and geopolitical influence.

But there is another, quieter measure of India’s place in the world.

What do ordinary people in other countries actually think about India?

The latest 2026 Global Attitudes Survey from the Pew Research Center offers an unusually useful snapshot. Surveying more than 42,000 adults across 36 countries between February and May 2026, Pew found that a median of 45% had a favorable view of India, compared with 41% who had an unfavorable view.

And the geographical differences are fascinating.

In some countries, India is viewed remarkably positively.

In others, the picture is considerably more complicated.

That makes the story much more interesting than simply announcing that “the world loves India.”

Sri Lanka: 79% and a remarkable turnaround

At 79%, Sri Lanka recorded the highest favorable rating for India among all 36 countries surveyed.

Only 11% expressed an unfavorable opinion.

The number becomes even more interesting when viewed historically.

In 2024, 65% of Sri Lankans surveyed had a favorable view of India. By 2026, that had increased by 14 percentage points.

Pew’s separate 2026 South Asia research also found that 63% of Sri Lankans identified India as their country’s most important ally. Seventy percent expressed confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do the right thing regarding world affairs.

There is therefore more here than a simple popularity number.

India and Sri Lanka have centuries of religious, cultural, commercial and geographic connections. More recently, India’s assistance during Sri Lanka’s severe economic crisis also became an important part of the relationship.

But we should be careful with the language.

A survey establishes what people think; it does not automatically establish exactly why every respondent thinks that way.

That distinction is the difference between journalism and WhatsApp analysis.

United Kingdom: 71%

The United Kingdom also produced a striking result.

Seventy-one percent of Britons surveyed had a favorable view of India, up from 60% in 2025 and 65% in 2023.

The UK is particularly interesting because India-Britain relations contain almost everything a modern international relationship can contain: history, migration, business, education, food, sport, politics and occasional disagreements.

The Indian-origin population provides an enormous people-to-people bridge.

The UK’s Indian community is not simply a cultural presence. Indian-origin Britons are active across business, medicine, academia, politics, entertainment and professional life.

So when India is discussed in Britain, it is not necessarily an abstract foreign country.

For millions of people, it is also the country of their parents, grandparents, family stories, food and festivals.

That creates a form of influence that cannot be manufactured in a diplomatic conference room.

Kenya: 71% — an African connection worth watching

Kenya recorded the same 71% favorable rating as the UK.

This is particularly significant because Africa is becoming increasingly important to India’s international engagement.

India’s relationship with Kenya has historical commercial and community connections, while Indian-origin communities have been part of East African economic and social life for generations.

Pew’s data also show that Kenya’s favorable rating increased from 65% in 2025 to 71% in 2026.

This is a useful reminder that India’s global image is not simply a Western story.

Some of India’s strongest ratings are appearing in Asia and Africa, regions where historical links, commerce, education and diaspora relationships can overlap.

Israel: still positive—but the number has changed

This is where the original information supplied for this story needs an important correction.

Israel did record 71% favorable views of India in Pew’s 2023 survey.

But in the latest 2026 survey, the figure is 60%.

That is still a clear majority and places Israel among the countries with relatively positive views of India.

But it would be misleading to publish 71% as the current figure.

The change is also a useful journalistic lesson.

Global public opinion is not a permanent trophy. Countries can have strong strategic relations while public perceptions still move up and down.

India and Israel have developed substantial cooperation in areas including defence, agriculture, water, technology and innovation. Yet public opinion remains something that has to be understood in its own political and social context.

Germany, Italy, Sweden and Japan also lean positive

India’s favorable image is not confined to four countries.

Pew found 63% favorable views in Germany, 56% in Italy, 55% in Sweden and 55% in Japan.

Germany’s movement is particularly noteworthy.

Its favorable rating increased from 57% in 2025 to 63% in 2026.

Japan, meanwhile, has maintained a majority-positive view of India.

These figures suggest something important: India’s international image is increasingly being formed through several channels simultaneously—business, technology, education, tourism, diplomacy, culture and direct personal contact.

The old image of India as simply a distant developing country is clearly incomplete.

Nigeria: an important correction

The supplied information stated that Nigeria gives India a 60% favorable rating.

That was true in Pew’s 2023 data.

In 2026, however, Nigeria’s favorable rating fell to 47%, while 39% expressed an unfavorable view.

This is actually more interesting than the old 60% number.

It demonstrates that India’s global reputation is neither uniformly rising nor permanently secure.

India needs to continue building relationships rather than assuming that existing goodwill will automatically remain.

Canada: a large Indian community, but a more nuanced public picture

Canada provides another useful example.

The latest Pew survey found 51% of Canadians had a favorable view of India, compared with 40% unfavorable.

That is positive—but not overwhelming.

At the same time, Canada has one of the world’s largest overseas Indian populations. India’s Ministry of External Affairs lists approximately 2.88 million overseas Indians in Canada in its latest country data.

This demonstrates why diaspora size and national public opinion should not be treated as identical things.

A country can have a very large Indian community while public opinion about India itself remains mixed.

The diaspora is a bridge.

It is not a guarantee.

And then there is the UAE

The United Arab Emirates deserves a separate category.

It was not part of Pew’s 2026 36-country India favorability survey, so assigning it a Pew percentage would be incorrect.

But the UAE is arguably one of the most important places in the world for understanding India’s people-to-people connections.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs says the Indian community in the UAE grew from approximately 3.5 million in 2021 to 3.89 million in 2024, making it the largest population of Indian nationals in any foreign country.

Indian businesses, professionals, workers, students and families are deeply integrated into the UAE’s economic and social landscape.

From construction and healthcare to finance, retail, technology and entrepreneurship, Indians are part of everyday life.

This is not the same thing as saying every resident of the UAE has a favorable opinion of India.

It means something subtler:

Millions of people encounter India through actual Indians rather than through headlines about India.

That distinction can be enormously powerful.

The bigger picture: India is viewed positively—but not everywhere

The Pew numbers provide an important reality check.

India’s strongest favorable ratings in 2026 were:

But India’s image is not universally positive.

Only 44% in Australia had a favorable view, compared with 55% unfavorable. Turkey was particularly negative, with just 15% favorable. In Pakistan, only 7% expressed a favorable view of India.

That is why describing the survey as proof that “the whole world loves India” would be both inaccurate and intellectually lazy.

The real story is better.

India has a substantial reservoir of international goodwill, but that goodwill varies sharply according to geography, politics, history and personal experience.

The diaspora may be India’s most underrated global asset

There is an important lesson running through these numbers.

Governments can sign agreements.

Ambassadors can make speeches.

Presidents and prime ministers can hold summits.

But ordinary people create the deepest international connections.

An Indian doctor treating patients in London.

An Indian engineer working in Dubai.

An entrepreneur building a company in Nairobi.

An Indian-origin professor teaching in Germany.

A family restaurant serving dosa in Canada.

A child celebrating Diwali in Britain.

These are all small pieces of what could be called India’s human diplomacy.

And unlike conventional diplomacy, it operates every day.

No protocol department required.

DOONITED Editorial Perspective

The most encouraging part of the Pew data is not simply that Sri Lanka gave India 79%, or that Britain and Kenya reached 71%.

It is that India’s international image is increasingly connected to people, culture, education, business and everyday interaction.

But the data also carry a warning.

Goodwill is not permanent.

Nigeria’s decline from 57% favorable in 2025 to 47% in 2026, and the fall in Israel from 71% in 2023 to 60% in 2026, demonstrate that public perceptions can change.

India therefore has an opportunity—and a responsibility.

The country’s global reputation should not be measured only by how loudly India speaks.

It should also be measured by how people who meet India, work with Indians, study with Indians, trade with Indians and live alongside Indians feel about that relationship.

The numbers suggest that in many parts of the world, the answer is encouraging.

The bigger challenge is to make that goodwill durable, inclusive and based on real relationships rather than temporary geopolitical enthusiasm.

Because ultimately, a country’s soft power does not live only in government buildings.

It walks into the room with an Indian passport.