Except for Pak, all nations want Obama re-elected: BBC survey

London: The US President might be locked in a neck and neck battle at home with his challenger Mitt Romney, but across the world, including in India, people still overwhelmingly want to see Barack Obama re-elected. According to an international survey by BBC World Service, Obama is preferred to Romney in 20 of the 21 countries with Pakistan the only country where more people favoured the Republican for an election. The poll comes just two weeks ahead of the US presidential election and while Americans appear to be sharply divided in their choice, the people across the world give a thumping endorsement to the incumbent. Overall, an average of 50 percent would prefer to see Obama elected, compared to only 9 percent who prefer Romney. The rest said they had no preference between the two. [caption id=“attachment_501832” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The poll indicates that Obama’s foreign policy is seen favourably by most countries of the world over that of the previous Republican dispensations. AP[/caption] A total of 21,797 people were polled for the survey conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA between 3 July and 3 September. France, where 72 percent of those surveyed favoured the President against two percent for Romney, emerged as the most pro-Obama nation. On the other hand, Pakistan where 14 percent wanted to see Romney elected compared to 11 percent for Obama was the only country polled that preferred the Republican. The poll indicates that Obama’s foreign policy is seen favourably by most countries of the world over that of the previous Republican dispensations. In case of Pakistan, Obama’s tenure has coincided with one of the worst phases seen by US-Pak ties and the poll clearly reflects the situation. Issues like US drone strikes on Pakistani territory, a NATO raid that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year as well as the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden have seen the ties between the two countries plunge to an all-time low. In India, 36 percent of people polled preferred Obama against 12 percent for Romney. Compared to four years ago, support for Obama went up in seven of the 15 countries, including India, that were polled this time as well as in 2008. France, Brazil, the UK, Panama, Indonesia, India, and Turkey, saw a rise in support for Obama after his presidency while four countries — Kenya, Mexico, Poland, and China saw a drop. “While the presidential race in America looks like going down to the wire, global public opinion appears to be firmly behind Barack Obama’s re-election— even if two in five express no preference between the two candidates,” said GlobeScan Director of Global Insights Sam Mountford. The other countries that were heavily in Obama’s favour were Australia (67 percent), Canada (66 percent), Nigeria (66 percent), and the UK (65 percent). PTI