COUNTRY REVIEWS

South Asia

Afghanistan

• Afghan government hits out at NATO; Five policemen killed in an insider attack

Pakistan

• Egypt President Dr Mohamed Morsi visits Pakistan; General election to the National Assembly to be held on May 11; Retired Justice Mir Hazar Khan Khoso appointed interim PM of Pakistan; Musharraf makes a comeback to Pakistan, aims at contesting in general elections

East Asia

Japan

• Japan to urge EU to maintain its ban on arms exports to China; Japan to contribute 550 million dollars for the peace and stability of Africa

South Korea

• South Korea and the US sign a contingency plan to counter North Korean provocation more effectively

North Korea

• North Korea fiercely criticizes the ongoing South- Korea-US joint military exercise as a threat to its national security; Pyongyang criticizes Tokyo for inciting confrontation between the two Koreas, threatens to strike against US military bases in Japan

Central Asia

Central Asia

• Kyrgyzstan approves NATO cargo transit deal; Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan sign a 400 kms railroad agreement; China’s exports to Kyrgyzstan increased by 31 per cent in 2012; Gas production in Turkmenistan’s massive field of Galkynysh will commence from July 2013; Kazakhstan will limit Russian oil imports in 2013; Uzbekistan becomes the first Central Asian republic to launch a shale extraction project; Turkmenistan and Pakistan agreed to expand bilateral cooperation; Tajikistan calls for greater Russian investment in exchange for military base agreement; Uzbekistan and European Union discuss bilateral ties; Austria imposes conditions for increasing economic cooperation with Kyrgyzstan

Russia

• Chinese President Xi Jinping is on an official visit to Russia; Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to strengthen military ties with Russia; Russia and China sign an agreement on expanding trade in crude oil; President Putin sets a target of achieving trade turnover of US$ 100 billion with China by the year 2015; Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation have signed a tentative agreement on the annual supply of 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas deal to China; Russia and China sign nine economic agreements as part of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow; Russia and EU sign an energy cooperation roadmap; Russia extends its space cooperation with the US; Prime Minister Medvedev calls upon the European Union to revise certain provisions of Third Energy Package; First underwater supersonic BrahMos missile has been successfully tested in India; PM Medvedev: Ukraine cannot become a member of the Customs Union under the 3+1 formula; Russia refuses to alter its stand on missile defence in the backdrop of the new US position of abandoning the final phase of its European missile defence system; Medvedev terms Cyprus plan as ‘absurd’

West Asia

Iran

• Iran’s Supreme Leader: Iran capable to destroy Israel in ground war; Iran dismissed Saudi Arabia’s claims about the presence of an Iranian national in an alleged spy network

Iraq

• IBC: More than 112,000 civilians killed in 10 years in Iraq

UNITED NATIONS (UN) REVIEW

• India votes against Sri Lanka at UNHRC; UNSC extends mandate of UN mission in Afghanistan, India expresses concern over NATO 2014-withdrawal from Afghanistan; UNSC concerned about security situation in CAR; UN condemns terrorist attacks in Damascus