North-east friend identifying Asian country (5)
I believe the answer is:
nepal
'asian country' is the definition.
(country in Asia)
'north-east friend' is the wordplay.
'north east' becomes 'ne'.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'ne'+'pal'='NEPAL'
'identifying' is the link.
(Other definitions for nepal that I've seen before include "Asian country, capital Kathmandu" , "Gurkhas' homeland" , "mountainous region" , "neighbour of Tibet" , "former kingdom" .)