Reuters South Asia News Highlights 1200 GMT Nov 3

KABUL - Re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to
form an inclusive government after stern warnings from Western
supporters he would have to work harder to root out corruption.

Afghan election officials on Monday cancelled a needless
presidential run-off vote after Karzai's only rival, former
foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew citing serious
concerns about the election. [ID:nN02427266]

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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's government has averted a potentially
destabilising coalition split by abandoning a bid to get
parliamentary approval for an amnesty from graft charges for
the president and other senior politicians.

The amnesty, introduced by former president Pervez
Musharraf in 2007 in a bid to strike a power-sharing deal with
former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was to be debated in
parliament this week as the government struggles with a surge
in militant violence. [ID:nISL56310]

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BEIJING - China accused the Dalai Lama of seeking to
undermine Beijing's relationship with Delhi through a visit to
a disputed border region, insulating India's government from
direct Chinese wrath over the dispute.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has riled Beijing by
arranging a trip next week to Arunachal Pradesh, parts of which
China claims as its own. The Chinese government has condemned
the trip several times and asked Delhi to stop it going ahead.
[ID:nPEK161426]

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NEW DELHI - India's exports in September fell 13.8 percent
year-on-year to $13.6 billion, but the declining trend may
reverse by December or January, a government official told
Reuters.

"December or January, it will go to the positive side. It
(export growth) is still in negative, but there is a fall in
deceleration," said G. Bhujabal, economic adviser in the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry. [ID:nBMA006329]

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NEW DELHI - The sugarcane crop in India's third-biggest
sugar producing state has been partly damaged due to recent
floods, the Business Standard newspaper said.

Floods in the southern state of Karnataka damaged cane crop
on 66,022 hectares of farmland and the loss was likely to be
around 5 billion rupees ($106 million), the paper said,
quoting a survey by the state government. [ID:nDEL166303]

(Compiled by Carl Bagh)