Is Pakistan Failed or Successful State | What's reality?

According to “Fund for Peace”, a failed state has following four characteristics.

• Loss of control of its territory
• Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions
• Inability to provide public services
• Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community

None of these characteristics exist in Pakistan. The government is fully capable to control its territories and there is not a single piece of land where it has lost control. If you don’t know what is loss of control, look at Afghanistan where more than 50% of land still remains under control of Afghan Taliban.

Pakistan has an active parliament, judiciary and military. Democracy is flourishing in Pakistan and media can freely criticise bad moves of the government. If you don’t really believe in what I say, try watching some Pakistani tv talk shows on Youtube. Our judiciary is very active and it is evident from the current high level cases against ruling party’s leadership. National Action Plan against terrorism has been agreed upon by all stakeholders of the state including the government, military, politicians and the public. In recent decades, terrorism has become a global phenomenon. USA has failed in Afghanistan but Pakistan is the only country so far to be successful in this regard. The number of killings due to terrorists attacks have decreased from 11704 in 2009 to 1082 in 2017.

Although Pakistan, like other developing countries such as India, faces several difficulties yet basic public services are still accessible. Shortage of electricity was a major problem five years ago but current government has successfully managed it. New power stations have been setup while many new power plants are still under construction. Education is free in public schools, free textbooks, uniform and transportation is available in majority of schools. Government is also working actively to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Pakistan which is a major problem in this area. Health services are available to all citizens through hospitals at district and tehsil (sub-division) level, and rural health centres and basic health units at union council level. Essential drugs and health services are provided for free without any consultation fee or cost of medicines, medical checkups etc.
Although quality of health services need improvement as is the case in other developing countries. Current government is investing in major infrastructure projects such as Motorways across the country, Metro trains, Metro buses, electricity, industrial estates etc.

Pakistan is also an active member of international community. It has recently been elected as the member of UN Human Rights Council. It also contributes largest number of troops to UN peacekeeping missions. Pakistan also became a member of SCO this year. Besides this, Pakistan is member of 63 international organisations which shows how Pakistan is active among international community.

So, in what terms do you want to see Pakistan as a failed state? Believe me, your dreams won’t come true. Pakistan is progressing and international reports and forecasts prove it. Recently, Pricewater­­house­Coopers forecasted Pakistan will become 16th largest economy in 2050. Bloomberg termed Pakistan Stock Exchange as the best performing stock exchange in Asia. What else do you want in a developing country? What would you need to believe that Pakistan is not a failed state? What exactly makes you feel like Pakistan is a failed state? I am sorry but you’re wrong here and you’ll have to change your sources of information