POLITICAL ISSUES
a. BAHRAIN
1. Air force, DRDO, pleased with Tejas performance at Bahrain
New Delhi, Sunday, 22 February 2016
Two Tejas light-combat aircraft fighters travelled from India to performed aerobatics at the Bahrain International Air Show (BIAS-2016) from 21-23 January.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

2. Bahrain keen to deepen ties with India in counter-terrorism
New Delhi, Monday, 23 February 2016
Foreign Minister of Bahrain Shaikh Khalid Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi and expressed his feeling to deepen ties with India in many sectors especially in counter-terrorism and defence.
Source: DNA, Mumbai

b. IRAN
3. India, Iran hold talks on “re-energizing” ties
New Delhi, Friday, 5 February 2016
India and Iran held extensive discussions on bilateral and regional issues such as security, energy, and connectivity as New Delhi looked at “re-energizing” its ties with Tehran after the lifting of sanctions by the Western countries against it.
Source: The Statesman, Kolkata

c. ISRAEL
4. India close to signing US$ 3 Billion Defence Deal with Israel
New Delhi, Wednesday, 10 February 2016
India’s Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS), a government body headed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi which is responsible for military procurements, is ready for a final vote on India-Israel defence contracts and projects totalling US$ 3 billion.
Source: The Diplomat, Tokyo

5. India, Israel to explore joint defence equipment manufacturing, R&D
Singapore, Saturday, 13 February 2016
India will send a business delegation to Tel Aviv to participate in a defence and security seminar that is to be held from 21 to 25 February in order to explore investment and manufacturing opportunities in collaboration with Israeli companies.
Source: International Business Times, New York

d. OMAN
6. India, Oman to expand defence, maritime ties
Muscat, Thursday, 19 February 2016
India and Oman reviewed their strategic ties and decided to expand defence and maritime cooperation in maintaining the stability and security of the Indian Ocean region.
Source: The Pioneer, Delhi

e. SAUDI ARABIA
7. PM Modi to visit Belgium, US, Saudi Arabia next month
New Delhi, Sunday, 28 February 2016
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Saudi Arabia as part of his three-nation trip from 30 March during which he will also visit Washington to attend Nuclear Security Summit, where his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif is also scheduled to be present.
Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh

f. UAE
8. India, UAE Sign 7 Agreements across various sectors
New Delhi, Thursday, 11 February 2016
India and UAE signed seven agreements across various sectors, during the visit of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Commander of the UAE Armed Forces to India.
Source: NDTV, New Delhi; See also: The Indian Express, Mumbai;DNA, Mumbai; Business Standard, New Delhi; The Hindu, Chennai

ECONOMIC ISSUES
g. IRAN
9. India’s Iran oil imports fall in Jan, but Feb arrivals to surge-shipping data
New Delhi, Tuesday, 2 February 2016
India’s oil imports from Iran fell more than a quarter in January from the previous month, although incoming shipments are expected to pick up in February as post-sanctions crude starts arriving, preliminary tanker data obtained by Reuters shows.
Source: Reuters, New York

10. As US lifts sanctions, Iran wants India to pay oil dues in Euros
New Delhi, Sunday, 7 February 2016
Iran has asked Indian refiners such as Essar Oil and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) to clear its past oil dues amounting to over US$ 6 billion in Euros within six months.
Source: The Indian Express, Mumbai; See also: The Economic Times, Mumbai

11. Iran to take SWIFT route to unblock US$ 6 billion payment from India
New Delhi, Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Iran is likely to reconnect to SWIFT international payment system in a day or two, paving the way for getting about US$ 6 billion of blocked oil payments from India.
Source: The Economic Times, Mumbai

12. India and Iran hold talk on oil trade, explore ways to fix payment issues
New Delhi, Thursday, 18 February 2016
India and Iran are holding negotiations to revive Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism to increase oil exports to Delhi and address the payments due from Indian refiners.
Source: The Economic Times, Mumbai

h. KUWAIT
13. Indian firms to showcase products at Kuwait trade fair
Dubai, Thursday, 18 February 2016
Over ten leading companies from India will showcase their products like handicrafts and paintings at the first Kuwait International Trade Fair starting from 21-27 February.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

i. LEBANON
14. India keen to export sugar, wheat, veggies to Lebanon
New Delhi, Sunday, 6 February 2016
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh met with the visiting Lebanon Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb and explored the possibility of importing sugar, wheat and vegetables like potato and tomato from India.
Source: Business Line, Chennai

j. QATAR
15. India’s decision to auction air-traffic rights disappointing: Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker
Singapore, Monday, 15 February 2016
Disappointed at India’s decision to auction air-traffic rights, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al-Baker said that it was against the country’s interest to restrict foreign carriers from operating freely in its air space.
Source: The Economic Times, Mumbai

k. TURKEY
16. Turkey keen to operate more flights in India
New Delhi, Thursday, 18 February 2016
Turkish Ambassador to India Burak Akcapar said that Turkey is looking forward to renegotiate the out dated civil aviation agreement with India and operate more flights to the country.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

17. Turkey offers infra support
Mumbai, Tuesday, 23 February 2016
Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek suggested possibilities to enhance the annual volume of bilateral trade between India and Turkey, which currently stands at US$ 7.5 billion.
Source: Business Line, Chennai

CULTURAL ISSUES
l. EGYPT
18. ‘Blinks of a Brush' depicts India-Egypt similarities
Cairo, Friday, 12 February 2016
Murugaraj Dhamodaran, Third Secretary at Embassy of India in Cairo, organized a show having nearly 50 works of art at the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture in an exhibition titled ‘Blinks of a Brush’.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

MISCELLANEOUS
m. SAUDI ARABIA
19. One Indian killed, three injured in firing in Saudi Arabia: Swaraj
New Delhi, Friday, 26 February 2016
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said that one Indian was killed and his three compatriots were injured when stray bullets hit them in Awamia in Saudi Arabia.
Source: Business Standard, New Delhi

20. Saudi Arabia, Iraq ship more crude to India
New Delhi, Friday, 19 February 2016
India’s oil imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq hit the highest in more than a decade last month.
Source: The Hindu, Chennai

COMPILED BY SUNIL KUMAR

Sunil Kumar 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