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ISLAMABAD, Mar 5 (AFP): US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to visit Pakistan, a frontline state in its global war against terrorism, in mid-March, an official said Saturday.
Rice is expected in Islamabad on March 17, a senior official of Pakistan's foreign ministry told the news agency, but declined to comment further on her engagements.
ASEAN worries over pace of Myanmar's democratic reforms
SINGAPORE, March 5 (AFP): ASEAN is worried about the pace of democratic reforms in Myanmar and its impact on ties with dialogue partners ahead of Yangon's takeover as chairman of the group next year, Singapore's foreign minister said.
Foreign Minister George Yeo said unless Myanmar authorities handled the situation carefully, the credibility of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would be in jeopardy.
Transcripts of Yeo's remarks during a debate in parliament were released to the media late Friday.
Yeo was asked about the impact of Myanmar's chairmanship of ASEAN next year, which has sparked a US warning it would boycott a series of meetings in Yangon unless the army-ruled state improves its human rights record.
Bangladeshis urge India to scrap water diversion plan
A group of Bangladeshi expatriates Saturday called on the Indian government to scrap a controversial plan to divert river waters that is likely to jeopardise ecology and economy of Bangladesh, reports Reuters.
"We call upon Indian authorities to cancel the plan and stop the ongoing feasibility study for the project which will surely curtail Bangladesh's share of international rivers adversely affecting ecology and economy," said a statement by the New York-based International Farakka Committee (IFC).
Saturday's statement followed a huge demonstration Friday at the northern town of Chilmari on the Brahmaputra, 400 km from Dhaka.
Nepal planners worry over shrinking foreign aid
KATHMANDU, Mar 5 (AFP): Nepal's financial planners are scrambling as foreign donors disgusted by King Gyanendra's power grab last month cut off aid -- a vital lifeline for the impoverished Himalayan kingdom.
About 70 per cent of the development budget is dependent on foreign aid, an official from Nepal's National Planning Commission said on condition of anonymity, warning that without it: "there will be no new bridges, roads, drinking water projects, schools or hospitals."
Making matters worse, the country's escalating communist insurgency has frightened off foreign tourists in recent years, depriving Nepal of one of its main sources of revenue.
The official said the government could make up for some of the losses out of reserve funds, but if the situation continues, the economy could plunge.
Chidambaram urges RBI to maintain benign interest rate
NEW DELHI Mar 5 (Reuters): Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said Saturday the government would try to ensure economic growth of over 7 per cent and urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to maintain benign interest rates, now at three-decade lows, to promote investment.
The economy, Asia's fourth-largest, grew at an average of 6.0 per cent a year since the country embraced economic reforms in 1991, but is expected to expand 6.9 per cent in the year to March 2005, due to robust manufacturing and services sectors.
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