POLITICAL ISSUES
IRAN
1. India hits Iran dead-end in Israeli terror case
New Delhi, Monday, 24 September 2012
Indian efforts to secure the arrest of Iranian suspects alleged to have been involved in a terrorist attack on an Israeli diplomat’s wife in February have drawn a blank with little cooperation from Iran.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

KUWAIT
2. Hundreds of Indians held in Kuwait
Dubai, Saturday, 22 September 2012
Indians are among the 2,136 people apprehended in Kuwait during raids on visa violators and those involved in crimes like theft.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

3. Embassy officials in Kuwait establish contact with 650 detained Indians
Dubai, Sunday, 23 September 2012
Officials in the Indian Embassy in Kuwait established contact with 650 Indians, mostly blue collar workers, who were picked up on Wednesday (19 September) during a police raid on visa violators.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

4. Gehlot writes to Krishna on arrest of emigrants in Kuwait
Jaipur, Sunday, 23 September 2012
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has written to External Affairs minister S M Krishna seeking his intervention regarding the arrest of emigrants from the state in Kuwait for alleged visa violation.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

5. Vayalar Ravi kept in the dark about Kuwait detentions
Thiruvanathapuram, Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Poor coordination between the Ministries of External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs has added to the woes faced by the Indians apprehended in Kuwait for visa violation.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

6. Indian embassy in Kuwait takes all measures for safe release of arrested Indians
Dubai, Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Vidhu P Nair, Deputy Chief of Mission, Indian embassy at Kuwait, said "We do not have the exact number of arrested Indians as of now. However we have met around 650 of the arrested Indians in the deportation and detention centre." He further added that the Embassy is taking all possible measures for the safety of the Indians who were arrested last week during a wide scale raid across Kuwait.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

7. Indians in Kuwait to be freed soon
New Delhi, Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said that India is in constant touch with its mission in Kuwait to ensure the release of all Indians detained there for the alleged misuse of visa.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

8. Most detained Indians released
New Delhi, Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Over half of the approximately 1,300 Indians detained in Kuwait for possible visa violations have been released by Tuesday (25 September) afternoon. Indian Ambassador Satish Mehta and other officials visited the detention centre during the day and discussed the matter with senior Kuwaiti officials.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

LIBYA
9. Western air strikes on Libya violate UNSC resolution, says India
New Delhi, Friday, 7 September 2012
India has told a UN meeting on the “responsibility to protect” (R2P) concept that Western air strikes on Libya were a complete violation of the UNSC resolution 1973.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

10. India condemns Benghazi attack
New Delhi, Thursday, 13 September 2012
India strongly condemned the “violent acts,” which resulted in the death of the US Ambassador to Libya and other officials. Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai spoke to the U.S. Ambassador in New Delhi and conveyed India’s condolences.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

PALESTINE
11. Palestine President to visit India
New Delhi, Friday, 7 September 2012
President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas will be on a State Visit to India on 11 September. On his fourth visit to India, he will meet the President Pranab Mukherjee and hold delegation level talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Vice President Hamid Ansari and External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna will call on him.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

12. India pledges support to Palestine, announces $10 million in aid
New Delhi, Wednesday, 12 September 2012
India announced another tranche of aid to Palestine and promised to back the Palestine National Authority’s quest for non-member status at the United Nations, an upgrade from the observer status, a move the US has threatened to veto.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

SAUDI ARABIA
13. Indian agencies alarmed over Saudi-Arabia-based terror modules
New Delhi, Sunday, 2 September 2012
Indian security agencies, who are questioning 16 men held in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, have said that these men received instructions from Saudi Arabia-based handlers to identify possible targets for terror attack, including important political leaders, journalists, and strategic defence establishments.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

14. Saudi Arabia, India hold talks on defence ties
New Delhi, Wednesday, 12 September 2012
The first meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia joint committee on defence cooperation was held in New Delhi and both sides discussed proposals for exchange of high-level visits, training and functional exchanges in various areas, a spokesperson of the Defence Ministry said.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

15. Saudi halts Fasih Mohammed deportation
New Delhi, Sunday, 16 September 2012
India will have to wait for Fasih Mohammed, accused of being involved in conspiracy of bomb blasts in Bangalore and Delhi, as Saudi Arabia has red-flagged his deportation from there saying they want to investigate his role in that country carefully before taking a call on New Delhi’s request for handing him over.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

16. Saudi Arabia non-committal on Fasih deportation
New Delhi, Monday, 17 September 2012
With Saudi Arabia remaining non-committal on the deportation of Fasih Mohammad, Indian investigating agencies are in a fix as they expect the alleged terrorist to give them crucial leads in several cases.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

17. Saudi Princess Bint Abdullah meets Speaker
New Delhi, Thursday, 20 September 2012
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar welcomed visiting Saudi Arabian Princess Adeleh Bint Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz, daughter of the King of Saudi Arabia and expressed the need for cooperation between the two countries.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

ECONOMIC ISSUES
IRAN
18. Iran hopes to increase sale of crude oil to India, suggests ways to bypass Western curbs
New Delhi, Friday, 28 September 2012
Iran wants to increase the sale of crude oil to India and is expected to suggest ways to work around western sanctions when officials from two countries meet in New Delhi.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

19. Indian delegation to negotiate wheat export deal with Iran
New Delhi, Sunday, 28 September 2012
Refiners in India, Iran's second-biggest oil client after China, have been settling 45 percent of oil purchases from Tehran in rupees under a new payment mechanism, while continuing to pay the remainder in Euros through Turkey's Halkbank.
Source: Reuters

MISCELLANEOUS
OMAN
20. Kerala workers in Oman in limbo over invalid medical papers
Dubai, Monday, 3 September 2012
Some expatriates from Kerala are in for uncertain times in Oman as the medical certificates provided by a centre in the state have been termed invalid by the Gulf Sultanate's foreign affairs department.
Source: Times of India, New Delhi

SAUDI ARABIA
21. Replace AI with Saudi Arabian Airlines, Hajj panel tells Centre
Malappuram, Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Kerala State Hajj Committee has asked the Centre to enlist the services of Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) instead of Air India to take Hajj pilgrims from Kerala.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

22. Saudi airlines to ferry Kerala Hajjis
Malappuram, Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Saudi Arabian Airlines will ferry Hajj pilgrims from Kerala instead of Air India. The Central government decided to replace Air India, which was to carry the Kerala pilgrims, with Saudi Arabian Airlines following a demand by the State Hajj Committee of Kerala.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

23. Saudi group proposes edu-city project in healthcare sector
Kozhikode, Wednesday, 12 September 2012
The Saudi Arabia-based Al Abeer Medical Group has submitted to the government a multi-crore edu-city project in the healthcare sector.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

Note: One Crore=10 million

Compiled by Manjari Singh

Manjari Singh is pursuing her M Phil degree in School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.  Email

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy