Northeastern colleague in Asian country (5)
I believe the answer is:
nepal
'asian country' is the definition.
(country in Asia)
'northeastern colleague' is the wordplay.
'northeastern' becomes 'ne' (abbreviation for northeastern).
'colleague' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a colleague or associate).
'ne'+'pal'='NEPAL'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for nepal that I've seen before include "neighbour of Tibet" , "Himalayan kingdom" , "Himalayan country" , "former kingdom" , "Gurkhas' homeland" .)