Extremism of different kinds has placed India and Pakistan among the top 20 least peaceful nations in the world, according to the 2013 Global Peace Index.
The annual rankings, compiled by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace, painted a particularly bleak picture of Pakistan where extremist violence claimed the lives of more than 9100 people, the fourth highest number after Syria, Libya and Mexico.
The survey found that nearly 800 people had lost their lives due to internal conflicts in India in 2012.
India and Pakistan scored disappointingly in many of the 22 indicators used in the findings, ranking 141st and 157th, respectively, out of the 162 countries surveyed.
Both countries scored low on rankings of the perception of criminality in society as well as peoples' confidence in the security establishment in safeguarding members of the public.
The Maoist insurgency in vast swathes of eastern India and Islamic extremism in Pakistan also meant that both nations scored poorly in the rankings of "political terror" and "terrorist activity".
In the bottom 20 nations alongside India and Pakistan are the likes of Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan, North Korea, Iraq, Syria and Libya.
The survey found that the world has become a less peaceful place with a 5% decline in overall scores for the 162 nations studied. Whilst 48 of the nations surveyed grew more peaceful, conditions in 110 countries - most notably Syria - deteriorated.
The report also counts the cost of violence to the global economy and estimates that the economic impact of containing violence cost a staggering $9.46 trillion in 2012 enough to write off the entire debt of the developing world twice over whilst also meeting this year's Millennium Development Goals.
For more stats and information about the survey, visit www.visionofhumanity.org
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