A new BBC World poll says that people in the Philippines, South Korea, France, Finland and Brazil think India is a negative influence on the world (via Style Station).
Pakistan was not polled. On the other hand, Iran, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the UK and Russia rate India highly. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the African countries polled are most neutral about India, while Sri Lanka and India are most neutral about the U.S.
Though India’s global profile has grown significantly over the last year, it fails to elicit strong feelings… The exceptions are two Muslim countries with positive views: Iran (71% positive) and Afghanistan (59% positive). The only country with widespread negative views is the Philippines (57% negative). Notably, India’s small neighbor Sri Lanka has a mere 4 percent reporting negative views and a robust 49 percent expressing a positive one.
Europeans are divided about India. At the positive end of the spectrum is Great Britain (49% positive, 30% negative) and Russia (47% positive, 10% negative), while at the other end are France and Finland—both being 27 percent positive and 44 percent negative. The US leans slightly positively (39% positive, 35% negative). [Link]
India has the strange distinction of being most loved by the most hated, Iran. Forty-three percent of the Indians polled seemed only lukewarm about their own country:
Interestingly, Indians themselves are the most tepid or modest in their self-estimates. While in most countries a large majority give their country a positive rating, among Indians only 47 percent give India a positive rating, but only 10 percent give it a negative rating. [Link]
The Philippines and Brazil are economic competitors of India. The others are more puzzling: South Korea is an economic partner, France has long-standing cultural ties to India, and the Finns might enjoy the weather 
Globally, the most disliked countries are Iran, the U.S. and Russia. The African countries polled and some where the U.S. assisted against political repression (Poland, Afghanistan) are the most appreciative of the U.S.
Style Station points out that the sample sizes (and, for that matter, the methodologies) vary widely across countries, so take the poll with a grain of salt.
Here’s the source and methodology.
Update:
The Unlawyer and Alok provide a possible answer: Indian money lenders who overstay their visas in the Philippines, provide loans at high interest rates and are then extorted by corrupt immigration police.Rep. Imee Marcos of Ilocos Norte, vice chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, criticized the Bureau of Immigration on Thursday for going after Indians behind the so-called 5-6 usury system…Marcos said that even if the 5-6 system imposes an interest rate on borrowers beyond the limit set by law, poor Filipinos have been able to set up small businesses because of the illegal loans…
“Instead of helping these Indians whom we commonly refer to as ‘Bombays,’ having been in our communities a long time now, these scoundrels [immigration officials] are scaring them stiff,” Marcos said… the SIRV has instead become an instrument through which unscrupulous immigration-police syndicate members victimize Indians… “These Indians are often apprehended but never jailed … they are constantly milked of their earnings,” Marcos said. [Link]
Related post: The Global Popularity Contest
