COUNTRY REVIEW

China

• Hu Jintao re-elected President; Tibetan demonstrations spread to other provinces; Chinese Government publishes its first handbook for students on ‘national defence’

Japan

• Japan urges China to make sure Tibet crackdown does not affect 2008 Beijing Olympics; Iran reassures Japan of oil supplies

Myanmar

• Myanmar is one of the most prolific abusers of people's rights, says U.S. report; Thailand, Myanmar sign investment protection agreement

South Asia

Pakistan

• National Assembly session commences on 17 March; PPP and PML-N sign a MoU for running coalition government; 30 people killed in a suicide bomb attack in Lahore

Nepal

• Koirala urges Terai armed outfits to accept agreement with the Madhesi groups; Maoists attacks UML team; CPN-UML will be wiped out, says Maoist leader Bhattarai; Army a non-political institution, says COAS

Sri Lanka

• Case filed against Prabhakaran and others; As many as 28 LTTE cadres killed; Local elections in Batticaloa district peaceful

Bangladesh

• Myanmar rejects Bangladesh request for gas; China and Bangladesh vow to reduce trade gap

ENERGY SECURITY REVIEW

Yemen and India

• Yemen and India to discuss gas co-operation

China

• Reshuffle in Chinese Energy Ministry

Gas Pipeline

• Iran-Pakistan-India Gas pipeline

European Union and Russia

• New report warns EU of conflict with Russia

INTERNAL SECURITY REVIEW

Jammu and Kashmir

• LeT, JeM, and HuM opt for local training; Infiltration in decline along Indo-Pak border, says Union Government

North Eastern State

• Manipur: UNLF claims killing of six soldiers; ULFA kills four Hindi speaking persons in Assam

Other Development

• GNLF chief and caretaker administrator of DGHC Subhas Ghising resigns

NUCLEAR REVIEW

India

• UPA-Left coordination committee says further discussions needed; Considerable progress made in talks with IAEA: Kakodkar

North Korea

• Two days of talks between US and North Korean envoys at Geneva; Talks very substantive and covered every aspect of the nuclear issue: Hill

Iran

• Iran reiterates Ahmadinejad statement that it will only talk to the IAEA on nuclear issues; US should negotiate directly with Iran on nuclear issues: Kissinger; Interest growing on multilateral enrichment proposal on Iranian soil