Lahore, Apr. 20 : While Pakistan, in its effort to convince the international community, has repeatedly said that it is sincere in thwarting the rising Taliban influence in the region, the United States believes that Islamabad does not have either the will, nor the capacity to pose a challenge for the extremists.

Terming Pakistan as a `big problem', US Senator Ted Kaufman has said that the country lacks both ability and capacity to counter the insurgents from expanding their writ inside its territory.

"I thought a lot of the problem was that the Pakistani government just didn't have the will to deal with the Taliban, but now that I've been over there, I'm not sure they have the capacity," The Daily Times quoted Kaufman, as saying.

Talking to reporters on a visit to Afghanistan, Kaufman said that the people of both Afghanistan and Pakistan believe that the new policies of the Obama Administration for the region would yield positives results.

"The good news is that people on both sides seem to be confident about the plan introduced by President Obama. They feel we're on the right track," Kaufman said. (ANI)