New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) At least 100 million (10 crore) women are missing in seven Asian countries, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) said Monday. It said 85 million of them are from India and China.

"While Asia and the Pacific can take pride in the regions' vibrant economic transformation in recent decades, this has not translated into progress on gender equality," a fresh UNDP report released on the occasion of International Women's Day said here.

"In 2007, the number of women and girls who were missing - who died because of discriminatory treatment in access to health and nutrition or who were eliminated before they were born - was close to an estimated 100 million in seven Asian countries," the report revealed.

The seven countries are India, Bangladesh, China, Iran, South Korea, Nepal and Pakistan.

"Together India and China account for an estimated 85 million of these missing women," the report added.

The report said while China accounted for 42.6 million missing women, the figure for India was 42.7 million. Pakistan, with over 6.1 million missing women, stands number three in the infamous tally.

The UN body said that Sri Lanka was doing much better to tackle the menace than any other country in the region.