Most Pakistanis still see India as the enemy, poll shows
Deep-seated animosity is a major blow to Vajpayee's recent peace overtures
Despite the recent peace overtures between India and Pakistan, a pioneering Gallup Poll conducted across Pakistan reveals that more than half the people in the Islamic nation still perceive India as an 'enemy'.
The poll appears to contradict a commonly held view by peace activists that while the people in the two countries want normal relations, the ruling establishments are the main stumbling block.
An abysmally low 15 per cent of Pakistanis surveyed see India as a 'potential friend', with 31 per cent categorising it as a 'rival' and 54 per cent as the 'enemy'.
What may come as further bad news for Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who launched the peace initiative earlier this year, is that an overwhelming 79 per cent of Pakistanis believe that resolution of the Kashmir issue is a necessary precondition for establishing peaceful relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Mr Vajpayee made an appeal for peace during a visit to Kashmir in March and last week repeated his desire for improved relations in a speech to mark Indian National Day. India hopes the two sides can set aside the dispute over the Muslim-majority province and simultaneously seek to improve relations in other areas, such as cross-border transport links on buses and planes.
For now though, much emphasis and energy has been expended in recent months on simply improving people-to-people relations.
There is a feeling in India that ordinary Pakistanis have reacted positively to several gestures by India, including the successful heart surgery on the two-year-old Pakistani girl Noor Fatima, transformed by the media into a veritable icon of prospective India-Pakistan friendship.
But the Gallup Poll clearly shows it will take much more than a few slick public relations exercises to get the Pakistani people to give up their hostility and mistrust towards India.
Even though Mr Vajpayee has been consistent in his desire to make peace with Pakistan, 47 per cent of Pakistanis dismissed his latest peace initiative as a 'gimmick', while only 26 per cent saw it as a 'serious' effort.
The United States, the main behind-the-scenes player in the move towards a sub-continental detente, also got short shrift from Pakistanis.
Asked if they would 'trust the US to broker peace between India and Pakistan', 62 per cent answered in the negative, while only 33 per cent believed it would make any difference.
But the poll also revealed a significant and hopeful shift in public perceptions.
Whereas in an opinion poll in January, 37 per cent said there was a very high chance of war between India and Pakistan, only 6 per cent thought so in the latest survey.
At the same time, an overwhelming 81 per cent believe that the 'most suitable way' for resolving the Kashmir issue is through negotiations, with 43 per cent even favouring a bilateral process without the United States or United Nations acting as mediators.
