POLITICAL ISSUES
BAHRAIN
1. India, Bahrain sign three MoUs
New Delhi, Thursday, 20 February 2014
India and Bahrain signed three agreements on 19 February to expand cooperation in key areas, including trade and business. The agreements were signed in the presence of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

2. Vast potential of cooperation between India-Bahrain: President Pranab Mukherjee
New Delhi, Thursday, 20 February 2014
Highlighting that Bahrain is India's extended neighbourhood, President Pranab Mukherjee said that there was vast potential for bilateral cooperation based on inherent strengths and complementarities of the two countries.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

IRAN
3. Ahmed Patel meets Salman Khurshid over issue of two Indians stranded in Iran
New Delhi, Monday, 10 February 2014
Ahmed Patel, Political Secretary to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, said that he met External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in Delhi to discuss the issue of two Indians stranded in Iran. According to Patel, Khurshid said that the Centre was serious in resolving the issue and the matter has been taken at an appropriate level in Iran.
Source: DNA, Mumbai

4. India, Iran should work for global peace: Iranian Minister
New Delhi, Friday, 28 February 2014
Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who arrived in Delhi on 27 February, said that the time of "zero sum game" played by the West was over and India and Iran should work together to usher in a new perspective of cooperation between all the countries.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

SAUDI ARABIA
5. India and Saudi Arabia sign defence cooperation pact
New Delhi, Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Reflecting growing congruence in bilateral ties, India and Saudi Arabia signed a defence cooperation agreement to take their strategic partnership further in areas of security.
Source: DNA, Mumbai

UAE
6. Indian embassy in UAE warns of visa scam
Dubai, Friday, 7 February 2014
The Indian embassy in the UAE has warned foreigners against falling prey to online visa scamsters operating a website that claims to facilitate Indian visas.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi; See Also: The Hindu, Chennai

ECONOMIC ISSUES
IRAN
7. India doubles Iran oil imports in January from December: Reports
New Delhi, Friday, 21 February 2014
India’s oil imports from Iran more than doubled in January from a month earlier, with one state refiner returning from a three-month break as a buyer after sanctions on Tehran were eased due to the interim Geneva deal on its nuclear programme.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

KUWAIT
8. Kuwait’s Hayat ties up with Chennai firm, to invest US$100 million in realty sector
Chennai, Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Kuwait's Islamic investment firm Hayat Invest will invest US$100 million in the Indian real estate sector in partnership with Chennai-based residential real estate developer XS Real Group.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

SAUDI ARABIA
9. Reduced supply from India pushes rice price up in Saudi Arabia
New Delhi, Tuesday, 18 February 2014
Price of imported rice including the Indian Basmati has shot up 20 per cent in Saudi Arabia due to shortage of supply from India. Popular varieties of Basmati rice remain hard to find at retail outlets in the country despite the price hike.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

10. Saudi asks India to ease tax norms to speed up investment flow
New Delhi, Thursday, 27 February 2014
Capital gains tax is a major hurdle in promoting Saudi investments in India, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Commerce and Industry Tawfiq Al Rabiah said. He further added that "the issue of taxation of capital gains continues to be a major impediment in promoting Saudi investment in India, and I call on the Indian authorities to explore relaxation of this issue”.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

11. Indian, Saudi firms sign deals for business, investments
New Delhi, Thursday, 27 February 2013
Indian and Saudi companies signed four agreements to jointly promote and facilitate investments and trade.
Source: DNA, Mumbai

12. Saudi Arabia-India to jointly build rice distribution hub in Dubai
Dubai, Friday, 28 February 2014
A new Saudi Arabia and India joint venture has been formed to build a rice distribution hub in Dubai to link Indian producers to consumers in the Middle East
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

UAE
13. India, Dubai reach air traffic rights pact
Mumbai/Delhi, Thursday, 27 February 2014
The civil aviation ministry revised the bilateral air traffic entitlements with Dubai, allowing them a 20 per cent increase in seats to India. Dubai had asked for 50,000 additional seats a week, has been granted 11,000 seats for allocation in three phases.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

14. India-UAE task force on investment to meet next month
Dubai, Monday, 17 February 2014
The meeting of India-UAE High-level Task Force on Investment will be held in Mumbai early next month.  The Task Force is expected to hold wide-ranging discussions on priority sectors of engagement for channelling investments in the two countries.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
BAHRAIN
15. Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait lays out India plans
Mumbai, Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) is planning to scale up its presence in India by opening one new branch, pump more capital and scout potential partner for credit card and call centre unit.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

QATAR
16. 1,000 Indian workers die in World Cup host Qatar in 4 years
New Delhi, Friday, 21 February 2014
Almost 1,000 Indians have died in Qatar in the last four years, with over 500 workers dying in the past two- and-a-half years alone. Qatar is the host of the 2022 football World Cup.
Source: The Economic Times, New Delhi

17. 'Middle Eastern airlines sucking talent out of India'
New Delhi, Monday, 17 February 2014
Airlines in the Middle East are sucking up the talent out of India leading to a dearth of qualified and competent people back home, a leading industry executive has said. According to Ravi Menon, the executive director of Air Works, a Mumbai-based aircraft maintenance company, the biggest risk to the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) space or aviation space is a lack of qualified and competent people
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