Washington:
Americans' positive perceptions of India fell seven percentage points over the past year from an all-time high of 75 per cent, a latest opinion poll showed today.
According to Gallup, now 68 percent of Americans give favourable rating to India as against an all-time high of 75 percent in 2012.
"The current rating is similar to what Gallup found between 2006 and 2010. The broader trend is one of improving favourability toward India since 2000, when Americans were closely divided on how they viewed it," Gallup said in its report.
Gallup said, while Americans' favourable ratings of most countries stayed the same or fell slightly this year, ratings of India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, and Israel - in addition to Egypt - saw notable declines.
Americans this year are more negative about China with 42 percent, consistent with the pattern in recent years, the report said.
According to it, the slight majority of Americans, 53 percent, now hold an unfavourable view of Egypt and 40 per cent a favourable view.
That is the most negative tilt in Americans' views of Egypt since Gallup began measuring favourability toward the country in this format in 1991, it said.
Americans' opinions of Egypt were more unfavourable for the first time in 2011 when the country became embroiled in anti-government protests that ultimately led to the ousting of longtime President Hosni Mubarak from power.
Egypt's image in the US recovered slightly in 2012, but this year, its favourable ratings fell to their lowest yet, Gallup said.
Gallup said more Americans view Russia unfavourably in 2013 - 50 per cent - contrasting with positive leanings in each of the previous three years.