Indians biggest supporters of international aid: WEF global survey

Indians have emerged as the biggest supporters of international aid, with a global public opinion survey putting India on the top when it comes to people expecting their nation to help other countries.

The survey released by the World Economic Forum ahead of its high profile annual meeting in this ski resort town on the Swiss Alps showed that South Asian countries, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as also Nigeria and Saudi Arabia exhibit widespread support for international aid.

The respondents in the survey of over 10,000 people were asked that do they think their country has a responsibility to help other countries in the world.

As many as 95 per cent Indians replied in affirmative, which was the highest for any country, followed by 94 per cent in Indonesia and Pakistan each.

Bangladesh followed with 87 per cent, while Nigeria scored 84 per cent, Saudi Arabia 83 per cent and China 80 pet cent.

The global average was 72 per cent, with countries like Argentina, France, Germany, the UK and the US scoring 60 per cent or below.

The WEF said it worked with Qualtrics to poll over 10,000 people from around the world on a number of issues that are important to our agenda at the Davos meeting.

As per the survey, 80 per cent of respondents worldwide believe that all countries can benefit at the same time, rejecting the notion that national improvement is a zero-sum game.

North Americans view immigrants more positively than any other region except South Asia. Europeans view immigration the least positively.

The survey also showed that a majority of all respondents trust climate science, but 17 per cent in North America express little to no trust.

On migration, 63 per cent of US respondents believed new immigrants are mostly good for their country compared to a global average of 56 per cent, 48 per cent in Germany and 30 per cent in Italy.

On Multilateralism, 83 per cent of US respondents said that all countries can improve at the same time -- compared to 35 per cent in Japan, 74 per cent in the UK and 65 per cent in France.