Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori wound up his four-nation South Asia after a six-hour stop in Kathmandu on Friday and went home with Nepal's support to Japan's call for reforms in the UN.

"We want to see expansion in both the permanent and nonpermanent membership (of the Security Council)," said a senior Japanese foreign ministry official. Nepal said just what Mori and the Japanese wanted to hear: any reform in the world body would be incomplete without expansion of the two membership categories.

The Japanese PM also urged Nepal to hurry with the ratification of the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) saying that it would add to the treaty's universality and send a strong message to both India and Pakistan. Nepal told the Japanese that it was in the process of being ratified.

Nepal and Japan also signed agreements under which Japan would give Nepal Rs 1.13 billion for building primary schools and debt relief. Japan also threw in $300,000 to provide relief to flood and landslide victims. But these were funds already committed before the Mori visit.