Pew Survey: 40% of American adults claim they have not heard of PM Modi

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• Apr 18, 2023 | Dhupali Das

Although Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the most popular leaders in his country in recent years...

Digital Desk: Although Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the most popular leaders in his country in recent years, he is little known in the United States. And among those Americans who know him, does not inspire much confidence, according to the results of a new Pew survey.

The survey, which polled 3,576 people between March 20 and 26, found that 40% of adult Americans have never heard of Modi, who is now serving his second term as the Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy.

Modi's name is less familiar to younger Americans. 59% of those aged 18 to 29 had never heard of Modi, compared to 28% of those aged 65 and older. "Among Republicans and Democrats alike, pluralities say they haven't heard of Modi," Pew stated in a report.

The Pew survey revealed that Vladimir Putin is well-known among Americans, and only 3% of respondents did not know his name. Putin also received the most mistrust. More than 70% of respondents stated they had no faith in Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Just than half of American adults (56%) have some trust in [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy to do the proper thing in world affairs," the report said. "By comparison, less than one-tenth had faith in Chinese President Xi Jinping (8%) or...Putin (7%)."

According to another report published earlier this month, Modi had a 76% approval rating in India, while the Pew survey score for "doing the right thing" among Americans was a meagre 1%. Up to "37% have little or no faith in his capacity to do the right thing in world affairs," the report said.  In a bipartisan outcome, Pew reported that Republicans and Democrats agreed nearly exactly (21% and 22%, respectively) in expressing trust in Modi—the closest such result among all the leaders surveyed.