Strong support for manufacturing nukes drops by 12pc: Survey

ISLAMABAD: Whereas the overall support to nuclear weapons in Pakistan increased by a margin of two percent, the strong support for manufacturing nuclear weapons dropped by a margin of 12pc.
According to a comparison of a survey conducted by the Gallop Pakistan in 1991 with the latest in 2015, released as Gallup’s Pakistan National Survey here on Tuesday, in 2015, the number of respondents strongly supporting the Pakistani nukes dropped from 71 percent in 1991 to 59pc in 2015. In 1991, the number of supporting our nuclear arms build-up to some extent was 14pc, which increased to 28pc this year. As many as 4pc respondents said in 1991 that they opposed it to some extent while 7pc expressed the same opinion in 2015. The number strongly opposing the nukes dropped from 4pc in 1991 to 2pc in 2015. The number of not responding dropped from 8pc in 1991 to 4pc in 2015.
Public opinion about the nuclear weapons in Pakistan changed with mixed results since 1991 leading to a decrease in the number of people who strongly support building atomic weapons and an increase in the number of people who support it to some extent. Over the past 24 years, there has been a 12pc decrease in the number of respondents who strongly support the nuclear weapons and 14pc increase in the number of respondents who support it to some extent.
Overall, there has been a 2pc increase in respondents who support the nuclear build-up. On the other hand, there was a 1pc decrease in respondents who strongly oppose it and 3pc increase in respondents who oppose it to some extent.