POLITICAL ISSUES
IRAN
1. Sartaj conveyed Nawaz’s message of friendship to Iranian President
Islamabad, Monday, 28 April 2014
Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz called on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and passed him on a message of “friendship and goodwill” from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Dawn, Karachi

2. Pakistan and Iran agreed to enhance bilateral economic cooperation
Islamabad, Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Rahimpour met for the seventh round of the annual bilateral political consultations and agreed to focus on enhancing bilateral economic cooperation.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Express Tribune, Lahore

SAUDI ARABIA
3. Dastgir called on Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
Islamabad, Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Minister of State for Commerce and Textile Industry Khurram Dastgir Khan called on the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud in Riyadh and discussed about cooperation between the two countries.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The News International, Karachi

4. Pak-Saudi Ministerial meeting called for improving bilateral trade, commerce ties
Islamabad, Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Joint Ministerial Commission Meeting discussed bilateral trade and business relations. It was headed by Pakistan’s Minister for Commerce Khuram Dastgir Khan and Saudi Minister for Commerce and Industry, Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

5. COAS left for Saudi Arabia to witness military exercise
Rawalpindi, Monday, 28 April 2014
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif left for Saudi Arabia to witness Saudi Military Exercise on the invitation of the Saudi Crown Prince.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The News International, Karachi

TURKEY
6. Turkey time-tested friend of Pakistan: Ayaz
Islamabad, Thursday, 10 April 2014
Speaker of National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq met a Turkish delegation comprising of former parliamentarians, philanthropists and educationists and observed that Pakistan and Turkey had time-tested friendship.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

ECONOMIC ISSUES
IRAN
7. Dar discussed Joint Economic Commission timeframe with Iranian counterpart
Washington, Friday, 11 April 2014
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar met with his Iranian counterpart Ali Tayebnia and discussed the timeframe of the Joint Economic Commission, agenda items and implementation of the outstanding issues.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

UAE
8. Dar invited Middle East banks to invest in Pak treasury bills
Islamabad, Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar invited Middle Eastern banks to invest in Pakistan’s treasury bills during his briefing to bankers in Dubai.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Express Tribune, Lahore; The Frontier Post, Peshawar

9. Javed Malik to represent Prime Minister at AIM 2014 Conference in Dubai
Islamabad, Monday, 7 April 2014
Ambassador Javed Malik, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy had been designated to participate in the two-day Annual Investment Conference (AIM 2104) in Dubai.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The News International, Karachi; Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; The News International, Karachi

10. Pakistan Fashion Week to promote textiles in UAE: Javed Malik
Islamabad, Monday, 28 April 2014
Ambassador Javed Malik, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy, was the chief guest and patron-in-chief of Asian Lifestyle Pakistan Fashion Week held in Dubai and said that such attempts would promote Pakistan’s culture and help boost textiles exports.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The News International, Karachi

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
IRAN
11. Iranian envoy hosted reception to mark Armed Forces Day
Islamabad, Thursday, 17 April 2014
Iranian ambassador to Pakistan Ali Reza Haghighian and the Armed Forces Attaché Col. Manouchehr Aslani hosted a reception on their Armed Forces Day in Islamabad.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

JORDAN
12. PAF inducted five F-16 fighter aircraft from Jordan in its fleet
Sargodha, Sunday, 27 April 2014
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) inducted the first batch of multi-role air defence capable, F-16 fighter aircraft which had been purchased from Royal Jordanian Air Force.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Nation, Lahore

TURKEY
13. Turkey offered to open model school imparting Islamic and modern education
Islamabad, Thursday, 24 April 2014
Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, while visiting Turkey, told his Turkish counterpart that Pakistan would consider Turkey’s offer to open a school having a fusion of Islamic and modern education.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

UAE
14. Pakistan ambassador called on Commander of UAE Air Force
Islamabad, Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Ambassador of Pakistan to UAE, Asif Durrani called on Major General Ibrahim Nasser Al Alawi, Commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence in Abu Dhabi and discussed cooperation between the two air forces and the forthcoming visit of Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

15. Pakistan Ambassador met UAE commander of naval forces
Islamabad, Thursday, 17 April 2014
Asif Durrani, Ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE, called on Major General Naval Ibrahim Saleem Mohammed Al Musharrekh and discussed issues of mutual interests.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

16. Pakistan, UAE Navy joint exercise commenced
Islamabad, Sunday, 20 April 2014
Pakistan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Navies began a seven-day joint exercise in Nasl al Behr to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Nation, Lahore

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 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