Most Indians perceive Pakistan as an "enemy" while an attack on terrorist training camps in Pakistan was the most favoured option of ending "terrorism" in Jammu and Kashmir, an opinion poll by weekly news magazine India Today reported on Sunday. Of the 17,776 people surveyed, 68 per cent viewed Pakistan as "an enemy," according to the poll commissioned by India Today and conducted by market research firm ORG-MARG.
Only 37 per cent of the Muslim respondents considered Pakistan as an enemy.
"Forty-nine per cent of Muslims have a rather charitable view of Pakistan as an estranged brother, a friend and a future ally," the magazine said.
About 38 per cent of respondents advocated military strikes on terrorist training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to end terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Only 18 per cent believed negotiations with Pakistan could resolve the problem.
A number of Indians -- 38 per cent -- were of the view that New Delhi has handled the eight-month-old military stand-off with Pakistan "very well", with 41 per cent of those surveyed saying India was the victor in the face-off.
"There is a widespread approval of the Government's handling of the face-off with Pakistan and the nuclearisation of India still commands a staggering 70 per cent approval," the survey found.
The survey -- titled "The Mood of the Nation poll" -- sought the opinions of eligible voters across 19 states and about 100 parliamentary constituencies, India Today said.
The respondents were "representative of the urban and rural areas," included men and women and "all age and social groups," the magazine added.
About 47 per cent of Hindu respondents favoured the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. "Predictably, this is not a solution favoured by Muslims," the magazine said.
About 26 per cent of those surveyed said "Muslim fundamentalists" were responsible for the recent communal riots in Gujarat, in which more than 1,000 people have been killed since February.
About 23 per cent declined to pin the blame on any particular group.
The survey also revealed a decline in the approval ratings of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, from 59 per cent about two years ago to 33 per cent at present.
Vajpayee, however, is still ahead of Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi by 13 points, the survey found. However, BJP trailed Congress Party by three per cent in the survey among the respondents who felt the latter was best placed to solve the country's problems.
On economic matters, 38 per cent
said rising prices and unemployment were the issues that worried them most,
while 57 per cent said the quality of life had remained unchanged in the
past two years.