Global Survey by Japanese firm GMO Research finds Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is most popular world leader after China’s President Xi Jinping

The study, which surveyed 26,000 respondents in 30 countries, was conducted by Japanese firm GMO Research, and its findings were published in a research paper released on Thursday Dec 18,2014 by Tony Saich, a professor at Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. 

Among respondents in each of 10 “key countries”, including India, China, the United States, Russia and Japan, the survey found that on the issue of “domestic confidence” in handling domestic and international affairs,China's President Xi Jinping was ranked favourably by 94.8% of Chinese respondents on domestic issues and 93.8 per cent on international affairs. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was second, receiving 93.2 %domestic confidence on domestic issues and 93.3 per cent on international affairs. 

He was followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at 86% on domestic and international affairs