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SINGAPORE, April 21: India is perceived as the most vulnerable country in Asia in terms of external threats, while Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and Vietnam are the least exposed, a regional survey showed.

Hong Kong, benefiting from its association with a stable mainland China, got a better score than regional rival Singapore, which is near Indonesia — one of Asia’s most volatile countries, the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) said.

The US-backed fight against extremists in the southern Philippines bears watching because its success or failure could shape Washington’s role in Asia in the medium term, PERC said in its latest Asian Intelligence survey and analysis.

The Hong Kong-based PERC surveyed more than 1,000 foreign businessmen in 13 Asian countries asking them how they perceived external threats to affect the business environment in their places of operations.

“The most notable feature of the overall scores was that India was the only country where such risks were perceived to be very high,” it said.

“It was vulnerable to fallout from social instability in other countries (Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan) and its diplomatic relations with neighbouring countries (notably Pakistan) were very strained.”

On a scale of zero to 10, with 10 the worst possible grade, India scored 8.22. Taiwan, which faces a military threat from China, was in distant second with a score of 5.19.

China and Vietnam tied for ninth place at 3.44, followed by Malaysia 3.38 and Hong Kong 2.34.

Australia was deemed the least vulnerable to external risks.—AFP

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