POLITICAL ISSUES
IRAN
1. Iranian President Rouhani paid his maiden visit to Pakistan
Islamabad, Friday, 25 March 2016   
During his first visit to Pakistan as president of Iran Hassan Rouhani headed a high-ranking delegation to deliberate over economic, energy and security issues. The two-day visit from 25 March to 26 March witnessed signing of six Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on multiple areas including health, commerce, finance and foreign services.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: Dawn, Karachi; Daily Times, Lahore; The Nation, Lahore; The News International, Karachi; Business Recorder, Karachi

2. RAW’s alleged involvement in Baluchistan discussed during Iranian President’s meeting with Pakistan’s Army Chief; claim denied by Iran
Islamabad, Saturday, 26 March 2016     
Transcript of General Raheel Sharif’s meeting with the Iranian president shared by Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa revealed that Army Chief Raheel Sharif discussed the alleged role of India’s intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Pakistan’s internal affairs particularly in Baluchistan and urged Rouhani to intermediate but the latter denied the claim.
Source: Daily Times, Lahore; See also: Dawn, Karachi

IRAQ
3. Pakistan to strengthen ties with Iraq
Islamabad, Thursday, 17 March 2016   
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Defence Production Tanveer Hussain held a meeting with Iraqi Defence Minister Khalid al-Obeidi in Baghdad on 17 March to discuss the bilateral relations and assured Pakistan’s assistance for revamping of Iraqi Security Forces, along with military and security cooperation.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: Daily Baluchistan Times, Karachi  

SAUDI ARABIA
4. Pakistan Prime Minister visited Saudi Arabia to witness military exercise “North Thunder”
Islamabad, Saturday, 12 March 2016   
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with Army Chief Raheel Shareef and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi paid a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia to witness the ongoing military exercise ‘North Thunder’ and its closing ceremony from 9 March to 11 March.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: Daily Pakistan, Lahore; The Express Tribune, Karachi

TURKEY
5. Terrorist attack in Ankara condemned by Pakistan
Islamabad, Monday, 14 March 2016   
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Ataturk Boulevard in central Ankara on 13 March which at least 37 dead and over 100 injured.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: Business Recorder, Karachi; The Express Tribune, Karachi

6. Turkish Air force commander conferred with Nishan-e-Imtiaz by Pakistan President
Islamabad, Saturday, 26 March 2016   
Abidin Unal, Commander of Turkish Air Force was conferred with Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military), one of the highest Military Awards, during his four-day visit to Pakistan. President Mamnoon Hussain presented the award for promoting bilateral cooperation between during a special ceremony held in Islamabad on 25 March.
Source: The Nation, Lahore; See also: The Patriot, Islamabad 

ECONOMIC ISSUES
TURKEY
7. Free Trade Area (FTA) to be established between Pakistan and Turkey
Islamabad, Tuesday, 22 March 2016   
Minister for Commerce Dastgir Khan and Turkish Minister for Economy Mustafa Elitash held a meeting on 22 March in Islamabad to sign a Framework Agreement for setting up Free Trade Area (FTA) which would facilitate future negotiations for bilateral trade in goods and services, intellectual property rights, competition policies and dispute settlement mechanism.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: Dawn, Karachi; Pakistan Observer, Islamabad; The Nation, Lahore 

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
BAHRAIN
8. Bahrain to open Liver transplant hospital in Pakistan
Islamabad, Tuesday, 1 March 2016   
Cabinet Minister Shahid Abbasi informed the senate that Bahrain has proposed to set up a separate liver transplant hospital in Pakistan and investment feasibility of is being studied.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

QATAR
9. Qatar to construct power plants in Pakistan
Islamabad, Friday, 18 March 2016   
Ambassador of Qatar to Pakistan Al-Mansouri interacted with Pakistan’s business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) to discuss the scope for furthering bilateral economic and business ties. Commenting on Pakistan’s energy deficit, he mentioned that Qatar was considering building two power plants in Pakistan.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: The Express Tribune, Karachi

TURKEY
10. Pakistan and Turkey to engage in employment generation
Islamabad, Monday, 7 March 2016   
Turkish delegation headed by Recep Biser, President of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization (KOSGEB) held a meeting with Murtaza Khan, Federal Minister for Industries and Production to discuss the scope of employment generation in Lahore. KOSGEB offered assistance to Punjab government in transfer of knowledge, experience and technology and developing Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector through Turkish experience of development.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: Dispatch News Desk, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Lahore

11. Pakistan Day celebrated in Turkey
Islamabad, Wednesday, 23 March 2016   
Pakistan Day was commemorated at the Embassy on 23 March where an elaborate ceremony was arranged for Pakistani community in Turkey. Pakistani students of Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara also celebrated “Pakistan Day” by organizing a cultural show.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See also: The News International, Karachi

COMPILED BY DIVYA MALHOTRA

Divya Malhotra is pursuing M Phil., degree at the 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