NEW DELHI: Do Pakistanis envy India’s apparent economic progress or curse their own run-in with terrorism and economic difficulties? Whatever the truth they are the happier people compared with the Indians, according to a UN-sponsored study quoted by Press Trust of India (PTI) on Friday. (Parts of the story were published in Dawn on Friday.)

Generosity is a key indicator in which the Pakistanis are several points ahead of their big neighbour. Pakistan’s cabbies and shopkeepers have proved the point every time a group of Indians comes calling to watch a cricket match or visit a shrine.

“Indians are less happy than their counterparts in Pakistan and Bangladesh,” said PTI quoting the report published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which is a global initiative for the United Nations.

India comes in at the 117th spot out of 158 countries in the 2015 World Happiness Report. Pakistan is ranked 81 and Bangladesh, 109. Places like Ukraine (111), Palestine (108) and Iraq (112) too come up higher than India on the index.

The report takes into account GDP per capita, life expectancy, social support and freedom to make life choices as indicators of happiness. India’s rank dropped six notches from the 2013 report, when it was on the 111th spot.

Switzerland has been named the happiest country in the world.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2015

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