POLITICAL ISSUES
BAHRAIN
1. Pakistan, Bahrain enjoyed similarity of views on bilateral issues
Islamabad, Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Dhahrani, Speaker of Bahraini parliament called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the latter Minister said bout countries enjoy similarity of views on bilateral, regional and international issues, and promised to continue contributing in Bahrain's prosperity, security and stability.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Dawn, Karachi

2. President for further cementing Pakistan, Bahrain strong fraternal bonds
Islamabad, Wednesday, 7 May 2014
President Mamnoon Hussain during his meeting with Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Dhahrani, Speaker of Bahrain urged the need of substantive economic and trade partnership between the two countries.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also:  Business Recorder, Karachi

IRAN
3. Iranian minister called on General Raheel
Rawalpindi, Tuesday, 6 May 2014
Iranian Minister for Interior Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli called on Chief of the Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and discussed matters of mutual interest, including measures to improve security along the Pakistan-Iran border.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The News International, Karachi

4. Pakistan, Iran to strengthen cooperation on security, border issues
Islamabad, Tuesday, 6 May 2014
Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, in a meeting with an Iranian delegation, said both countries agreed to establish a hotline to resolve border issues. Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan will hold a trilateral meeting for increased security cooperation.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The News International, Karachi

5. PM Nawaz to visit Iran from 11 May 2014
Islamabad, Saturday, 10 May 2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would pay a two-day official visit to Iran from 11-12 May, on the invitation of President Hassan Rouhani.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Dawn, Karachi

6. PM met former Iranian president Rafsanjani
Tehran, Sunday, 11 May 2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met former President of Iran and Chairperson Expediency Discernment Council Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and discussed matters relating to mutual interest.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: Pakistan State Times, Karachi

7. Pakistan, Iran agreed to give impetus to gas pipeline project
Tehran, Sunday, 11 May 2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani agreed to continue with the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project and both sides signed eight MoUs to enhance cooperation in fields like transferring of offenders, anti-money laundering, statistical cooperation, cultural exchange programme, sports cooperation, cooperation in preventing and combating pollution from ships and establishment of Joint Border Commission.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; and  Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad
See Also: The Dawn, Karachi; The Nation, Lahore

8. PM met Iran’s Supreme leader
Tehran, Monday, 12 May 2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met the Supreme Leader of Iran Syed Ali Ayatollah Khamenei and discussed issues relating to mutual and bilateral interest.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Express Tribune, Karachi

JORDAN
9. Jordan appreciated Pak army for fighting against terrorism
Rawalpindi, Wednesday, 28 May 2014
King Abdullah II and the Prime Minister of Jordan Abdullah Ensour appreciated the sacrifices of the armed forces of Pakistan in fighting terrorism.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

OMAN
10. PM for enhanced ties with Oman
Islamabad, Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in a meeting with Major General Mattar Bin Salim Bin Rashid Al Balushi, Commander of Royal Army of Oman that the geographical proximity can offer them a great scope to step up their bilateral relations.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: Business Recorder, Karachi

UAE
11. Sartaj Aziz visited UAE
Islamabad, Thursday, 22 May 2014
Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz visited Abu Dhabi on the invitation of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates. During the meeting, the two discussed bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of common interest.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

ECONOMIC ISSUES
IRAN
12. Tehran, Islamabad discussed to boost trade to US $ 5 billion
Islamabad, Friday, 30 May 2014
Iran and Pakistan discussed measures to boost the annual trade between the two countries from currently around US$1 billion to US$5 billion.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

TURKEY
13. Pak-Turkey agreed to form technical working group in energy sector
Islamabad, Thursday, 1 May 2014
Pakistan and Turkey agreed to form a technical working group in the energy sector for close collaboration. This was decided in a meeting between Secretary of the Ministry of Water and Power Saifullah Chattha with Turkish officials in Ankara.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Dawn, Karachi; The Express Tribune, Karachi

MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
TURKEY
14. PM condoled deaths of Turkish miners; day of mourning to be observed on Thursday
Islamabad, Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wrote a letter to his Turkish counterpart and expressed his condolences on the death of workers in the coal mine explosion in Turkey.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: The Nation, Lahore; Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

15. Pakistan observed National Mourning Day over mine tragedy in Turkey
Islamabad, Thursday, 15 May 2014
The government of Pakistan observed National Mourning Day in solidarity with the Government and people of Turkey for the deceased of mine incident.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: Daily Times, Lahore

16. Turkish company to lift garbage in Rawalpindi, Murree
Islamabad, Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Rawalpindi Waste Management Company (RWMC) and Albayrak, a Turkish company signed a contract of US$ 81.390 million to lift solid waste from Rawalpindi and Murree, and dump it at selected landfill sites.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad

UAE
17. Sheikh Nahyan reaffirmed strong bonds of Pak-UAE friendship
Karachi, Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister for Culture, Youth Affairs and Community Development hosted a lunch for a 21-member delegation of Pakistan’s National Management Course (NMC) where he reaffirmed strong bonds of friendship between the two countries.
Source Associated Press of Pakistan, Islamabad; See Also: Pakistan State Times, Karachi

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