Pakistan among top 10 failed states

Pakistan, plagued by insurgency and the worst-ever economic crisis, has been named among the "top 10 failed states" by the US-based reputed Foreign Policy journal. Pakistan, bracketed along with countries like Somalia, Afghanistan and Sudan, has improved its position only by a notch -- it is placed 10th in the index for 2009 published in the July-August issue of the magazine.

The fifth annual 'Failed States Index' is a collaboration between The Fund for Peace, an independent research organisation and Foreign Policy. The financial crisis is a "near-death experience for insurgency-plagued" Pakistan, which remains on IMF life support, the journal said. It is a sobering time for the world's most fragile countries--virulent economic crisis, countless natural disasters and government collapse, it noted.

Using 12 indicators of state cohesion and performance, compiled through a close examination of more than 30,000 publicly available sources, the journal ranked 177 states in order from most to least at risk of failure. India is ranked 87th, showing an improvement over the previous year. But its neighbours performed badly in the index with Sri Lanka placed 12th, Bangladesh 19th and Nepal 25th.