Last week, thousands of protestors descended upon Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, led by opposition leader Imran Khan, a former cricket star turned politician. Khan is charging Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with rigging last year’s election, and he and other opposition figures are demanding Sharif’s resignation.

Moreover, while Pakistanis still believe their country faces a long list of challenges, they are now less likely to describe as very big problems issues such as public debt, the situation in Afghanistan, tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and corruption.

These are among the major findings from the latest survey in Pakistan by the Pew Research Center, based on face-to-face interviews conducted with 1,203 respondents from April 15 to May 7, 2014. The sample covers approximately 82% of the country’s adult population. (For more details see the Methods section of this report). The poll also finds little support for extremist groups in Pakistan, with only 8% giving the Taliban a positive rating and just 12% saying they having a favorable opinion of al Qaeda. (For more on views about extremism and extremist groups in Pakistan and other predominantly Muslim nations, see this July Pew Research report).

Roughly seven-in-ten (71%) express an unfavorable view of India, while only 13% give it a positive rating. At the time of the survey, which was conducted before results for the recent Indian national elections were announced, 62% of Pakistanis did not know enough about India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi to say whether they had confidence in his ability to do the right thing in world affairs.¹ Just over a third (36%) said they have little or no confidence in Modi to do the right thing in world affairs, while only 1% expressed confidence in Modi.

National Conditions Improving

Views about Pakistan’s direction and the state of the economy tend to be more positive among supporters of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. For example, 47% of those with a positive opinion of Sharif believe the economy will improve in the next year, compared with 14% of those with an unfavorable view of the Prime Minister.

Though most agree the country faces many serious problems, Pakistanis report less concern than in years past on several issues. The number of people saying that public debt, the situation in Afghanistan and tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims are very serious problems has declined by 20 percentage points or more in the last year. Significantly fewer people also report concerns about Indian influence in Afghanistan, corrupt political leaders, the quality of schools, inequality and crime.

Sharif Maintains Popularity in Office

Nawaz Sharif, who took office as prime minister just over one year ago, has maintained his popularity through his first year. More than six-in-ten Pakistanis (64%) say they have a favorable opinion of the prime minister, while 32% view him unfavorably. Sharif’s favorable rating is virtually unchanged from last year when he enjoyed 66% favorability. Support for Sharif is particularly high in Punjab (75%), Pakistan’s most populous province.

Imran Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI), receives generally positive ratings. More than half of Pakistanis (53%) have favorable views of the opposition leader and former cricket player, while about a quarter (24%) have a negative opinion of him. Though Khan is generally liked, his support has seen a marked decline since 2012, dropping 17 percentage points in just two years, from a high of 70%. Roughly one-in-five (22%) offer no opinion about Khan, up from 11% two years ago.

Former President Asif Ali Zardari, who left office in September 2013 with a favorability rating of 14%, continues to be unpopular, though he has seen a boost to his favorability since stepping down. Roughly a quarter of Pakistanis (27%) now have a positive opinion of Zardari, although 69% still express a negative view.

Ratings for General Raheel Sharif, former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and current President Mamnoon Hussain are more positive than negative, though many decline to offer an opinion. About four-in-ten (41%) have a favorable opinion of General Sharif, the current Chief of Army Staff, while just 12% offer a negative view. Similarly, 40% express a positive opinion of Chaudhry; 19% report a negative view. Support for Chaudhry has seen a slow decline since 2010, when 61% held positive opinions of him. Hussain receives higher favorable than unfavorable views, but a majority of Pakistanis (55%) offer no opinion about their opinions of the businessman-turned-politician.

Split Support for Institutions

The Pakistani military receives an extremely high level of public support. Fully 87% give the military positive ratings, an eight percentage point increase from 2013. Six-in-ten or more also say the media (68%), religious leaders (64%), Prime Minister Sharif (62%) and the national government (60%) are having a good influence on the way things are going in Pakistan.

The national government has seen a surge in support since Zardari left office. In 2013, about a quarter of Pakistanis (24%) gave the government a favorable evaluation. Sharif also enjoys overwhelming public support compared to his predecessor. Just months before leaving office, only 15% of Pakistanis believed Zardari was having a positive influence.

Just 47% think the court system has a good influence on the country. And only a third of Pakistanis express support for the police, despite an increase from last year 

Strong Support for Girls’ Education

Many See Threats from Extremists Groups and India

Given the choice of India, the Taliban and al Qaeda, 51% of Pakistanis list India as the primary threat to their nation. Substantially more people rate India as their top worry compared to 2013, when concerns were more evenly divided between India (38%) and the Taliban (33%). Currently, the Taliban ranks as the second highest concern, with 25% listing it as the greatest threat. Just 2% list al Qaeda as the number one threat to their country.

When asked how the Pakistani government is doing in the fight against extremist groups, the public is divided between believing the government is making progress (28%) and that things are about the same as in the past (24%). One-in-ten believe that the government is losing the fight against extremism, while 38% express no opinion.

U.S. Ratings Somewhat Less Negative

Another major Obama administration policy is more popular among Pakistanis: withdrawing most U.S. troops from neighboring Afghanistan. By a 46%-11% margin, Pakistanis say this is a good thing rather than a bad thing (40% do not have an opinion).