U.S. adults rated India at 51 on a 0–100 feeling thermometer in July, up from 47 in October 2025, while the gap between Democratic and Republican ratings was wider than in 2022.
The result came from a joint analysis by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Observer Research Foundation America. The average was four points above the 47 recorded in October 2025. The report said the Council had not recorded a lower rating for India since 2008.
Democrats gave India an average of 55, Independents 52 and Republicans 47. In 2022, Democrats and Independents each rated India at 55, while Republicans gave it 52. Craig Kafura, the Chicago Council’s director of public opinion and foreign policy, and Dhruva Jaishankar, executive director of Observer Research Foundation America, described views as “more politically polarized than in the past.”
Age groups also differed. Respondents ages 18 to 29 rated India at 47, compared with 55 in 2022. Those 60 and older gave it a 54 average. On the U.S.-India relationship, 41% called India a necessary partner and 10% an ally; 8% said rival, 3% adversary and 37% said they did not know. The share calling India an ally was 21% in 2021.
A separate Pew Research Center survey, conducted Sept. 14-20, put India at 46 on the same 0–100 feeling thermometer. Pew surveyed 5,193 U.S. adults overall, with 1,129 assigned to rate India. The results come from separate polls with different samples and methods, so the five-point difference alone does not show that views shifted between July and September.
Ipsos conducted the Chicago Council survey online in English and Spanish from July 10-21 among 2,156 U.S. adults. Its stated margin of sampling error was 2.2 percentage points. On trade, 48% favored cutting U.S. tariffs on Indian imports as part of a bilateral trade agreement, 12% opposed that approach and 38% said they lacked enough information. Asked about additional U.S. tariffs tied to India’s purchases of Russian oil, 22% supported them, 29% opposed them and 47% said they did not know enough to decide.
The report placed the findings against recent friction over trade and tariffs, Pakistan and Russia, as well as changes to U.S. immigration policy. It did not identify those issues as causes of the polling results.
