POLITICAL ISSUES
IRAN
1. U.S. exempts India, eight others from sanctions for Iranian oil
Washington, Thursday, 6 June 2013
The US exempted India and eight other countries from sanctions for importing oil from Iran, noting that these countries have significantly reduced their dependence on Iranian oil in the last six months.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

2. India cuts Iran oil imports 42 per cent, takes Venezuelan, other crudes
New Delhi, Monday, 17 June 2013
India cut its Iranian oil imports by more than 40 per cent in the first five months of the year, replacing the crude with shipments from Venezuela, Iraq and Oman, and pushing Iran down four places to seventh among its top suppliers.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi; See Also: Reuters, UK

IRAQ
3. Khurshid to visit Iraq
New Delhi, Monday, 17 June 2013
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid would begin a two-day visit to Iraq on June 19 and would hold talks with top Iraqi leaders on issues of mutual interest, including oil imports. Khurshid, the first senior Indian leader to visit the oil-rich Arab country in last 23 years, would meet his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari and discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai; See Also: Business Standard, New Delhi

4. India and Iraq agree for beyond buyer-seller ties
Baghdad, Thursday, 20 June 2013
India and Iraq agreed to revive bilateral ties and intensify cooperation by taking the relations beyond that of a buyer and seller, with Baghdad inviting New Delhi to invest more in the oil-rich Arab country, scarred by years of conflict.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi; See Also: Business Standard, New Delhi

5. Iraq assures India over oil supplies
Baghdad, Friday, 21 June 2013
Iraq has assured India of fulfilling the demand for oil supplies and vowed to enhance economic relations. "The Iraqi government has reassured the Indian side that Iraq will meet its oil demands, as well as its future needs," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said during a joint press conference with his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi; See Also: The Hindu, Chennai

ISRAEL
6. India, Israel inching closer to signing FTA: Israeli envoy
Kolkata, Thursday, 13 June 2013
Hoping that an India-Israel free trade agreement (FTA) would be signed "in the coming months", the Israeli ambassador said the agreement would be a "strategic game changer" in trade relations between the two countries.
Source: The Times of India, New Delhi; See Also: Business Standard, New Delhi; The Economic Times, New Delhi

7. India strategic partner, anchor in global affairs: Israel
Jerusalem, Thursday, 13 June 2013
Describing India as a long-standing strategic partner in fight against terror, Israel has said that it would "not do anything that could undermine India's security" in a strong bid to re-assure New Delhi that Israeli reports of arms sale to Pakistan were incorrect.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi; See Also: The Times of India, New Delhi; Business Standard, New Delhi; The Hindu, Chennai

8. Indo-Israel relations go beyond defence: Ushpiz
Kolkata, Friday, 14 June 2013
Relations between India and Israel go beyond defence and there is a compatibility to deal with the future challenges, Israel's Ambassador to India Alon Ushpiz said.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

9. India's large Muslim population should not affect ties: Israel
Jerusalem, Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Asking India to shed its "carefulness" in ties with Israel, President Shimon Peres said that India should overcome its "cautious" approach which is due to a large Muslim population and should further strengthen the relationship with the Jewish state.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

TURKEY
10. India and Turkey to enhance cooperation in renewable energy
Ankara, Thursday, 27 June 2013
India and Turkey have agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of renewable energy. This was decided at a meeting held between the Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz and Minister of New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

UAE
11. India to blacklist tax havens not sharing info
New Delhi, Thursday, 27 June 2013
The government is considering blacklisting foreign jurisdictions for not sharing information on money parked by Indians in their country, despite a tax information exchange agreement with India. Officials said that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is among some of the countries which have been requested to share information but have not done so effectively. In fact, with the UAE, India has tax for sharing of information but it has not helped much.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

ECONOMIC ISSUES
ISRAEL
12. Israel keen on agricultural centre in Bengal
Kolkata, Friday, 14 June 2013
The state government submitted a proposal for an India-Israel centre of excellence on vegetables after months of persuasion by Israeli embassy. The centre, to be built on a two acre plot in Adisaptagram in Hooghly, would use Israeli technology on productivity increase, adapt it to local conditions and develop replicable techniques for farmers in the state.
Source: The Times of India, New Delhi

OMAN
13. Jindal Steel to commission 2-MTPA steel plant in Oman in Oct
New Delhi, Sunday, 30 June 2013
Jindal Steel and Power plans to commission a two million tons per annum (MTPA) capacity plant in Oman in October, which the company claims would be the largest steel plant in the Gulf region.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

MISCELLANEOUS
KUWAIT
14. India Tourism promotion event held in Kuwait
Dubai, Thursday, 13 June 2013
India has organized a tourism road show in Kuwait highlighting its tourist destinations to attract travellers and promote tourism in the country.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

OMAN
15. IndiGo announces daily Mumbai-Muscat flights
Dubai, Sunday, 16 June 2013
IndiGo airlines has announced introduction of new daily non-stop flights connecting Oman's capital Muscat to Mumbai from 16 June.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

16. TCIL to supply "green towers" to Saudi Telecom, OmanTel
Kolkata, Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Telecom Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) is in "advanced talks" with Middle Eastern carriers Saudi Telecom and OmanTel to supply green energy solutions for powering their tower networks, and in turn, optimize costs.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

17. Oman Air flight lands in India after bomb scare
New Delhi, Saturday, 22 June 2013
An Oman Air plane made an emergency landing in India because of a bomb scare during the flight, an airport official said. The flight was headed for Kuala Lumpur from Muscat.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

18. Nine Indians rescued from Cypriot ship that sank near Oman
Dubai, Monday, 24 June 2013
Nine Indian crew members of a Cypriot cargo ship that sank 1.4 nautical miles from Sultan Qaboos Port in Oman have been rescued. The Nisar R3, loaded with 816 tons of bitumen, sank on Wednesday in which the ship's Iranian captain died while nine Indian crew members were rescued by the Omani Coast Guard and naval vessels.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

SAUDI ARABIA
19. Indian fishermen caught in crossfire between Iran and Saudi Arabia
Dubai, Saturday, 22 June 2013
Indian fishermen are increasingly landing up in Iranian jails as a result of growing tensions between Tehran and its Arab Gulf neighbours, including Saudi Arabia and UAE.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

UAE

20. Indian scribe publishes real life stories from Gulf region
Dubai, Saturday, 29 June 2013
A Dubai-based Indian journalist has published a random collection of his stories that have been printed in different newspapers across the Gulf region.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

Compiled by Manjari Singh

Manjari Singh is a doctoral candidate 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