India falls in ranking of most dangerous nations

India fell seven points to rank among the most dangerous countries in the world according to the latest tally by the Global Peace Index, reports the Economic Times. At 135, India ranks more than 50 places behind China, in the company of strife-plagued nations like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

But is it perception or reality?

"India's score remains the same on most parameters used to measure peacefulness. Homicide and crime rates in India, too, are a lot lower than many other countries. The fall in rankings is largely due to an increasing perception of criminality in society," ET quotes Steve Killelea, founder of the Global Peace Index, as saying.

Some highlights in the rankings:

Number one?  Iceland.

China?  Number 80.

Pakistan?  146.

Overall, the GPI shows that for the third consecutive year, levels of peacefulness have dropped across the globe, the paper said. The uprising in the Arab world and parts of Africa had much to do with an increase in global violence this time around. The country that showed the biggest tumble at the GPI is Libya, whose rank fell by 87 places. Countries like Egypt and Bahrain also showed a large drop on the GPI.

"The dramatic changes in the Global Peace Index this year are not caused by war between countries but by conflict between citizens and their own governments. Our analysis of the factors for resilient and peaceful societies show that it is not desirable or sustainable to enforce peace through curfews or strongarm military tactics." the paper quoted Killelea as saying.