A majority of people polled in India have said that they would like military rule and autocracy in the country, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre.

“In Asia, 55% of Indians, 52% of Indonesians and 50% of Filipinos favour autocracy,” the centre said in its report released on Monday. Such support, it added, is particularly intense in India, where “27% very strongly back a strong leader”.

Although military rule was not the preferred option for many, minorities in several countries felt that it was a good way to govern. More than half the people in Vietnam, Indonesia, India and South Africa prefer this kind of rule, the Pew report said. At least 53% of the respondents from India believe that military rule would be good for their nation.

“But older people [those aged 50 and above] are the least supportive of the Army running the country, and they are the ones who either personally experienced the struggle to establish democratic rule or are the immediate descendants of those democratic pioneers,” the report added.

The survey was conducted among 41,953 respondents in 38 countries between February 16 and May 8. It also found that people in rapidly growing economies are more trusting of their government. “In India, where the economy has grown on average by 6.9% since 2012, 85% trust their national government,” Pew said in its report.

Nearly 65% Indians who were polled also said that a governing system in which experts and not elected officials make decisions would be good.