The US has said that a Washington-based foreign policy journal and think tank's rating of Pakistan as one of the top 10 failed states had noting to do with its official policy, noting that the South Asian country cannot be put in that category as its economy was booming.
"On the basis of my interaction with Pakistan and the American business community, I can say with confidence that Pakistan is the opposite of a failed state," US Under Secretary for International Trade Franklin L Lavin, who is on a visit to Islamabad, told the media on Friday.
Lavin said the country was facing some challenges, but it had the "capability, leadership and necessary policies" to keep up its economic momentum.
Disagreeing with a report released by the Foreign Policy Journal and Fund for Peace, a think tank, rating Pakistan among one of the 10 failed states, Lavin said the views expressed in the report had nothing to do with official US policy.
Lavin noted that Pakistan's economy was booming and performing well.
With strong leadership and policies in place along with a national consensus on these policies, Pakistan can effectively face the challenges, he said.
Pakistan had termed the report as "rubbish", saying that the research methodology adopted was "faulty".
