POLITICAL ISSUES
IRAN
1) Iranian Consulate felicitates Nawaz Sharif
Lahore, Thursday, 16 May 2013
Consulate General of Iran at Lahore felicitated the caretaker government of Pakistan on successfully holding electoral process in the country and congratulated the successful candidates of the national and provincial assemblies as well as PML-N President Nawaz Sharif for winning the election 2013. Iranian President Ahmadinejad and spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry also congratulated PML-N leadership.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

2) Shahbaz for further strengthening Pakistan-Iran relations
Lahore, Sunday, 26 May 2013
Punjab Chief Minister designate Shahbaz Sharif during a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan emphasized on strengthening ties with Iran and welcomed Iran’s investment in energy and other sectors in Punjab. The Ambassador assured Shahbaz of Iran’s cooperation in energy sector and said that Tehran could help Punjab to generate 2,000 MW of electricity if some hurdles were removed.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

3) Iqbal’s poetry helps to have clear understanding of true Islamic essence: Iranian envoy
Islamabad, Friday, 30 May 2013
Speaking as a chief guest at a Persian language contest held at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Iranian Deputy Ambassador said that the negative image of Islam could be countered by unity and harmony in Muslim community. According to him, Mohammed Iqbal’s poetry could be a great contribution towards reaching this goal as well as having a clear understanding of the true essence of Islam.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

LIBYA
4) Pakistan urges fair trials of perpetrators of crimes in 2011 Libyan conflict
United Nations, Thursday, 9 May 2013
Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN Ambassador Masood Khan demanded “thorough and impartial” trials of alleged perpetrators of violence during the 2011 pro-democracy uprising in Libya, regardless of which side committed the crimes. He opined that this would set a lasting example for other states.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

PALESTINE
5) Pakistan backs Palestine’s bid for fresh move to resolve Mideast conflict
United Nations, Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Pakistan called for renewed international focus on the Israel-Palestine conflict and that the resumption of peace process should include ‘the establishment of an independent, viable and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif (that is, Jerusalem) as its capital.’
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

6) Pakistan draws attention to threat to Al-Aqsa; urges resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks
United Nations, Thursday, 23 May 2013
Pakistan told the Security Council that Israeli excavations and tunnelling under the Al-Aqsa Mosque were threatening the whole structure, and called for early resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Pakistan also asked for lifting restriction on freedom of worship, especially in East Jerusalem and condemned the excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators by Israeli forces.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

SAUDI ARABIA
7) PAF Air Chief meets Saudi Arabian Crown Prince
Islamabad, Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force (PAF), who was on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, called on Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and discussed matters of mutual interest and various fields of future cooperation.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

SYRIA
8) Pakistan urges UNSC to get back Brahimi’s efforts to end Syrian conflict
United Nations, Wednesday, 1 May 2013
The Pakistani envoy during a private session of the 15-nation body, asked for the government and opposition party in the Syrian conflict to resolve the problem through discussion and to enable Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations-Arab League envoy for Syria, to work out a negotiated solution for ending the bloody conflict.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

TURKEY
9) Turkish envoy calls on President Zardari
Karachi, Thursday, 2 May 2013
Turkish ambassador called on President Asif Ali Zardari and discussed the bilateral relations.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

10) Ties with Pakistan to be enhanced in all fields: Turkish Minister
Islamabad, Monday, 13 May 2013
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister at a ceremony in connection with an art competition titled Chughtai Art Award in Ankara said that there was a great scope to improve the relations between the two countries in various fields to the mutual advantage of both.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

ECONOMIC ISSUES
UAE
11) UAE urged to facilitate multi-entry visa, meat exports from Pakistan
Islamabad, Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Pakistan urged the UAE to allow multiple-entry business visas to Pakistani businessmen for Dubai and facilitate exports of meat and poultry from Pakistan.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

MISCELLENIOUS ISSUES
IRAQ
12) Travel advisory for Pakistani zaireen visiting Iraq
Islamabad, Tuesday, 14 May 2013
According to Pakistan Foreign Office, it was observed that Pakistani Zaireen (pilgrims) holding visas issued by the Iraqi Embassy in Islamabad were facing problems while entering into Iraq because of not having a specific clearance number issued by Iraqi Ministry of Interior.
Source:  Associated Press of Pakistan

13) Iraqi Air Force Commander briefed on PAF role, functioning
Islamabad, Friday, 31 May 2013
Commander of the Iraqi Air Force visited Pakistan’s Air Headquarter and attended a briefing on the organization, role and functioning of Pakistan Air Force.
Source:  Associated Press of Pakistan

IRAN
14) Pakistan in Asian Team snooker quarters despite 0-3 loss to Iran
Karachi, Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Pakistan advanced in the quarter-final round of inaugural Asian Team Event Snooker Championship despite 3-0 defeat to Iran in their last league match at Doha, Qatar.
Source:  Associated Press of Pakistan

QATAR
15) Pak snooker to leave for Doha
Lahore, Wednesday, 22 May 2013
A four-member Pakistan snooker team left for Doha to take part in the first Asian team event and second Red snooker championship.
Source:  Associated Press of Pakistan

SAUDI ARABIA
16) Embassy helping workers in Saudi Arabia: FO
Islamabad, Thursday, 30 May 2013
The Foreign Office Spokesman said that according to media reports 30,000 Pakistani workers had been declared illegal immigrants in the Kingdom and strict immigration rules were imposed upon them by Saudi government. Pakistan Ambassador in Riyadh held meetings with the Saudi Labour Minister and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs to impress upon them of the huge negative impact on Pakistani work force in Saudi Arabia.
Source:  Associated Press of Pakistan

TURKEY
17) President condoled with Turkey on terrorist act
Karachi, Sunday, 12 May 2013
President Asif Ali Zardari condemned a terrorist attack in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli and offered condolences and sympathy to the people of Turkey.
Source:  Associated Press of Pakistan

18) PAC Kamra delivered first batch of UAV parts to Turkey
Islamabad, Monday, 13 May 2013
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra handed over the first batch of Turkish UAV (ANKA) parts to Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI) in a ceremony held during International Defence Exhibition and Fair (IDEF) at Istanbul, Turkey.
Source:  Associated Press of Pakistan

Compiled by PAULAMI SANYAL

Paulami Sanyal is a doctoral candidate in the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.  Email

As part of the policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spellings and date format 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