The US image in the world is generally negative but "Indians hold the most uniformly positive views of Americans," a survey has said.
The overall unfavourable perception around the globe persists even though the Bush administration has been promoting freedom and democracy throughout the world in recent months and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars for tsunami relief in the Indian Ocean region, the Pew Research Organisation has concluded.
Only India and Poland were more upbeat about the United States, while Canadians were just as likely to see China favourably as they were the US.
In Indonesia and Russia, overall opinions of the US have improved significantly.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project, which released its findings on Thursday, is co-chaired by former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former Senator John C Danforth.
The survey found modest optimism among Muslims that the Middle East will become more democratic.
"Even in countries like Jordan and Pakistan, where America is held in low regard, those who see the region becoming more democratic give some credit to the US for its support of democracy in their countries."
The conflict in Iraq, Pew found, remains widely and deeply unpopular, and in no country, including the US, does a majority of the public think the war that resulted in Saddam Hussein's ouster made the world safer.
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