POLITICAL ISSUES
EGYPT
1. Egyptian President felicitate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Islamabad, Monday, 17 June 2013
President of Egypt Mohammad Morsi congratulated Nawaz Sharif for being elected the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

ISRAEL
2. ISPR denies report about purchase of defence equipment from Israel
Rawalpindi, Tuesday, 11 June 2013
A spokesman of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) denied that Pakistan had purchased defence equipments from Israel. According to a media report, over the past five years, Israel has exported military equipment, including hi-tech gear used in combat jets, to Pakistan.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan; See also: The International News

IRAN
3. Iranian ambassador, JI chief discussed regional situation
Lahore, Monday, 3 June 2013
Iranian ambassador in Pakistan Ali Reza Haghighian met Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Syed Munawar Hasan and discussed the regional situation besides matters concerning Iran and Pakistan.
Source: The International News

4. President Ahmadinejad felicitates Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Islamabad, Thursday, 6 June 2013
President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has felicitated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and expressed confidence that relations between the two countries would flourish under his leadership.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

5. Pakistan attaches importance to its ties with Iran: Nisar
Islamabad, Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Minister for Interior of Pakistan felicitated the Iranian Ambassador on election of the new President of Iran. In response, the Iranian Ambassador congratulated the Minister on him assuming office.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

6. President phones President-elect of Iran Hassan Rouhani, felicitates him
Karachi, Wednesday, 19 June 2013
President Asif Ali Zardari telephoned President-elect of Iran Hassan Rouhani and felicitated him and expressed the hope that under his leadership Iran would continue to make rapid progress and play its role for the peace and stability of the region.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

SAUDI ARABIA
7. Saudi Ambassador calls on Air Chief
Islamabad, Thursday, 6 June 2013
Ambassador of Saudi Arabia called on Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshal and discussed matters of mutual co-operation.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

SYRIA
8. Pakistan calls for end to bloodshed in Syria; backs US-Russia peace move
United Nations, Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Ambassador of Pakistan to United Nations backed the Russia-US initiative for ending the conflict in Syria and asked both the conflicting parties to stop practicing brinkmanship.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

9. Syrian PM felicitates Nawaz Sharif
Islamabad, Monday, 24 June 2013
Prime Minister of Syria felicitated Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif for the formation of a new government in Pakistan.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

TURKEY
10. Nawaz to visit Turkey after Ramadan
Islamabad, Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would visit Turkey after Ramadan at the invitation of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Source: The International News

UAE
11. Zardari likely to visit Dubai
Rawalpindi, Friday, 7 June 2013
President Asif Ali Zardari would pay a visit of a private nature to Dubai shortly along with the interior minister Rahman Malik.
Source: The International News

ECONOMIC ISSUES
IRAN
12. Iran to export diesel
Islamabad, Sunday, 9 June 2013
To stop the cross-border smuggling fuels and goods to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Iran launched a border market to sell diesel fuel to buyers from both these countries. around 7-10 million litres of petrol and diesel were smuggled out every day, according to Iranian state media.
Source: The International News

13. Pak-Iran gas pipeline project to be completed on time, says secretary petroleum
Islamabad, Saturday, 29 June 2013
The secretary Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources informed the committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources that Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipeline Project would be completed by the stipulated time of December 2014.
Source: The International News

TURKEY
14. Turkish firm Karkey files US$ 700m claim on Pakistan
Islamabad, Tuesday, 18 June 2013
A Turkish power generation company Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim filed a case against the Pakistan government for compensation of losses worth US$ 700 million. The firm had leased a vessel-based power generation unit to Pakistan in 2011. But due to intervention by the Supreme Court of Pakistan the project was cancelled.
Source: The International News

MISCELLENIOUS ISSUES
15. Saudi Arabia denies giving marching orders to Pak expats
Islamabad, Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Saudi Arabia ruled out suggestions that a large number of Pakistani expatriates working there would be deported after the enforcement of new labour rules.  The Saudi embassy said that the decision on introduction of new regulations was not country-specific and all workers coming from any country would be regularized according to the rules of the Ministry of Labour.
Source: The International News

18. JI chief urges government to get power, gas from Iran, not India
Islamabad, Wednesday, 19 June 2013
The leader of Jamaat-e-Islami has cautioned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against India’s ‘evil designs’ and stressed that Pakistan should go ahead with its plans to get electricity and gas from Iran.
Source: The International News

Compiled by PAULAMI SANYAL

Paulami Sanyal is a doctoral candidate at 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