Vajpayee to reshuffle cabinet

The Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, says he will announce a cabinet reshuffle next week.

Correspondents say Mr Vajpayee had been expected to make changes in his cabinet earlier this year after a series of political setbacks for his party, but had to postpone the move because of the military standoff with Pakistan over Kashmir.

The governing Bharatiya Janata Party, which suffered badly in state elections earlier this year, has been criticised over its handling of the recent religious violence in the western state of Gujarat and over India's slow economic growth.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service