NEW DELHI: No prizes for guessing which country is going to eat its heart out over this. A domestic poll in Afghanistan commissioned by international agencies has found that an astonishing 71% of Afghans believe that India, among all countries active in the country, is playing the most positive role in the rehabilitation of Afghanistan.

In a double whammy for Pakistan, only 2% of the 1,500 Afghans who participated in the poll voted in favour of Pakistan. In fact, the Taliban fared better with 3%.

The poll, held by Afghan Centre for Socio Economic and Opinion Research and commissioned by agencies like BBC, ABC and German TV ARD, cut across all ethnic and geographical divides. The poll was carried out in all 43 provinces between December 11 and 23 last year. India was followed by Germany (59%), the US (51%), Iran (50%) and Britain (39%).

For India, it's recognition of the massive aid and relief work which it has carried out in Afghanistan even in the face of stiff opposition by Pakistan which has used its clout with the US to raise doubts over India's relief work.

India has pledged over $1.2 billion for a wide array of reconstruction activities ranging from education to building roads, bridges, power stations to digging tubewells and grassroot development projects. This obviously has generated a lot of goodwill among ordinary Afghans for India.

The poll has called Pakistan's bluff categorically dismissing Islamabad's contention that India's growing profile in Afghanistan was part of the problem, and not the solution. It's based on in-person interviews with a random national sample of 1,534 Afghan adults during that period.

The poll also brought to the fore the growing unpopularity of the Taliban in Afghanistan with only 6% of people polled saying they favoured a Taliban administration. Ninety per cent said they wanted their country run by the current government.

A Gallup poll last year in November had said that 56% preferred India's role in the reconstruction of the country, while 51% preferred the UN, 44% Nato, 30% Pakistan and 42% Iran. Pointing out that India is the largest regional donor in Afghanistan, the poll report said, "The country's increasing visibility in reconstruction and development efforts is evident in the roles Afghans see the country as playing and think India should play." The Gallup data further showed that one in seven Afghans identified India's current role in economic development and said India should continue to play this role.

