ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has rejected a report of the magazine “The Economist”about Prime Minister Imran Khan and termed it below objective and civilizedjournalistic norms.

A clarification issued by a high official of Ministry of Information andBroadcasting said the fact that Imran Khan is equally popular among urbansecular middle class as well as rural conservatives, is so painful to thenewspaper that it goes to any extent to malign the Prime Minister ofPakistan.

The clarification said equally unpalatable to the magazine is Pakistan’snuclear weapons, success of its armed forces in the war against terrorism,its defiant posture to regional bully and role of Pakistan army inprotecting and promoting national interest.

The official said it is for the people of Pakistan and its institutions todecide which path to tread. Their sole prerogative is to define and defendwhat they perceive to be their national interest.