India among World's Least Peaceful Nations: Report

Bangalore: India is among the least peaceful nations in the world, as per The Global Peace Index (GPI) 2013.  India ranked 141 among 162 nations, and recorded for having lost more than two lives a day (799 persons) to internal conflicts in 2012, reported Madhavi Rajadhyaksha for TNN. Further, the recent Maoist violence in Bastar left 28 people dead, which is another example of the internal conflicts.

The countries that make the bottom of the pile include Pakistan, Iraq, South Sudan and Afghanistan, which are usually perceived to be more violence-ridden. Central African Republic was the least peaceful nation. However, it was noted that India has improved its rank by three notches compared to that in 2011. Iceland appeared to be 2012's most peaceful country on the index.

India’s regional rank was five and Bhutan was placed one, followed by Nepal and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka took the fourth place in the regional ranking. Afghanistan and Pakistan took the lead in being least peaceful in the region.

As per the report's author Steve Killelea, of the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank, India's poor ranking on the latest index was due to the high number of internal and external conflicts, easy access to small and medium weapons and the political terror scale, like conflict-ridden Kashmir. Killelea also said that more populous nations were less peaceful and it was probable that conflicts in large countries like India were more difficult to manage.

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