COUNTRY REVIEWS

South Asia

Bangladesh

• Indo-Bangladesh joint sub group on the proposed Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project hold its first meeting in New Delhi; PM Sheikh Hasina attends 16th NAM Summit in Tehran; Bangladesh plans to make the current temporary transit to Bhutan permanent; UAE denies slapping any visa ban to Bangladeshis; USAID officials arrived in Bangladesh to promote food security

Sri Lanka

• Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa orders for sending back Sri Lankan football teams which were undergoing training in Chennai; Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju: India will continue to train Sri Lankan defence personnel; Sri Lanka expresses its concerns about safety issues involving the nuclear plant in Kundakulam; Sri Lankan government is to expand its diplomatic and consular representations in India; The Coast Guards of India and Sri Lanka hold four-day meeting to discuss maritime issues; Chinese Defence Minister General Liang Guanglie visits Sri Lanka; Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen : Australia would not return Sri Lankan asylum seekers to their country of origin without fully assessing any claims for protection

Maldives

• President Waheed visits China; The Commission of National Inquiry submits its report to the President

East Asia

Southeast Asia

• Indonesian anti-terrorism squad shot dead two suspected militants in Solo; Indonesia to launch LAPAN A2 in 2013; Prominent exiled student leader of Myanmar returns home; India and ASEAN to review developments on FTA in services and investment; India to host Mekong Ganga Cooperation meeting

Japan

• Japan prepares to take the Takeshima issue to the ICJ despite South Korean opposition; Tokyo metropolitan govt sends investigative team to the Senkkaus

North Korea

• North Korea-Japan bilateral talks held in Beijing after four years; Pyongyang allows Japanese press and citizens’ group to visit World War II burial site for the Japanese war deads

Central Asia & Russia

Central Asia

• Uzbekistan to open airspace to US military; Kazakh-Turkmen-Iran railway to be in operation this year; Turkmenistan military to hold first Caspian naval drills; Uzbek and Kazakh leaders to discuss regional security; Lukoil discoveres a sizable gas reservoir in Uzbekistan; Germany interested in energy and transportation partnerships with Tajikistan; Kyrgyzstan GDP expected to grow by 9.8% in 2013; Kazakhstan reiterates its threat to leave regional energy grid if satisfactory agreement is not reached by 2013; Tajikistan’s 30,000 ton sugar deal with Pakistan hits a snag over shipping dispute

Russia

• Gazprom and Bulgaria sign a protocol agreement for the implementation of the South Stream energy project; Russia is ready for a broader cooperation with the Non-Aligned Movement countries; Belarus raises export taxes on crude oil to Russia’s level; Russia believes that there is no viable alternative to the Annan plan for Syria; Capital outflow forecast for 2012 in Russia is estimated to be around US$50-60 billion for the year 2012; Sixty Russians banned from entering the UK in connection with the Magnitsky case

West Asia

Saudi Arabia

• Saudi Arabia clamps down on money laundering and terrorist financing

GCC

• GCC foreign ministers’ meeting discusses regional issues

DEFENCE REVIEW

National

• Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed a contract with Swiss firm Pilatus for procurement of 75 Basic Trainer Aircraft (BTA); Government says India is not a party to the dispute over sovereignty over areas of South China Sea

International

• Libyan government interested in acquiring used U.S. Army Chinook helicopters; U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke allays Chinese fears

INTERNAL SECURITY REVIEW

Jammu & Kashmir

• Jammu and Kashmir interlocutors called on Union Home Minister; CM Omar Abdullah: Interlocutors’ Report should form the basis to initiate a dialogue between the centre and the state; Sarpanch injured after being shot at in Awantipora, South Kashmir; CRPF to vacate Hotel Nedous after two decades; Militant killed at Kangan

North East India

• Bandh turned violent in Assam; Manipur takes up to check illegal immigration; Manipur pushes back illegal migrants; Army moves to seize illegal arms in Kokrajhar; Nagaland returning to normalcy after clashes between the Sumi and Angami Naga tribes

UNITED NATIONS (UN) REVIEW

• UN Security Council welcomes progress made by governments of Sudan and South Sudan; Mandate of UN force in Lebanon extended; UNSC welcomes political transition in Somalia; Sudan withdraws from UNHRC; IAEA sets up Task Force in Iran, UN reports Iran’s expansion in uranium enrichment machines