|
|
| U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad on July 19, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo) |
by Matthew Rusling
WASHINGTON, July 29 (Xinhua) -- A new report found a majority of Pakistanis consider the United States an enemy, in spite of Pakistan' s role as a key ally in the U.S. fight against radicalism.
Regard for the United States in Pakistan ranks lowest among 22 countries surveyed in the Pew Global Attitudes survey, with nearly 60 percent of Pakistanis describing the United States as a nemesis and only 17 percent expressing a favorable view of the country.
"America' s overall image remains very negative in Pakistan," said Andrew Kohut, president of the non-partisan Pew Research Center.
The Pew Research Center report, titled "America' s Image Remains Poor: Concern About Extremist Threat Slips in Pakistan," comes at a time when the Obama administration is trying to strengthen ties with Pakistan.
Indeed, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month visited Pakistan and pledged 1.5 billion dollars a year over a five-year period in a bid to beef up Islamabad' s capacity to aid U.S. strategic goals.
But despite the official line of warming ties, the study found that U.S. President Barack Obama is widely unpopular in Pakistan -- a sentiment that bucks the trend of many other countries' admiration for the U.S. president.
