Russian leaders come to India for a few hours and go back with defence deals worth billions. Much like last year, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was in India on Monday for less than 24 hours and the two nations ended up signing deals worth $4 billion.

• January 2, 2013

Pakistani hardline party Jamaat-e-Islami's (JI) chief Azad Kashmir Abdur Rasheed Turrabi has said the discussions between Pakistan and India would not be proved fruitful until the latter took serious steps towards resolution of Kashmir issue.

• December 31, 2012

India's pet project to link south with central Asia got support from Russian president Vladimir Putin. During their talks in New Delhi last week, Singh and Putin agreed to unfreeze the north-south corridor through Iran within the next year. India has taken the lead role in pushing for the completion of this project.

• December 31, 2012

Russia has concluded a challenging 2012 in India with three deals involving additional fighter aircraft and helicopters.

• December 31, 2012

A Snapshot of Key Developments in the External Relations of the Russian Gas Sector
By Jack Sharples, EGF Associate Researcher on the external dimensions of Russian gas

Key points:

• Reports claim that Gazprom plans lower European gas export prices for 2013 in a bid to compete with spot price contracts, while Russian officials continue to press for exemptions from the Third Energy Package for Nord Stream and South Stream
• Sources report that Gazprom could lower its gas export price for Ukraine for 2013 from the predicted $421 per thousand cubic metres to $352, as Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich, announces a last-minute postponement of his meeting with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow to discuss Russian-Ukrainian energy relations
• Gazprom holds a ceremony to mark the start of the construction of South Stream, but the EU remains sceptical about the implementation of the project due to the lack of necessary assessments and permits
• The Estonian government refuses permission for Nord Stream AG to conduct research in Estonia’s territorial waters, as part of plans for Nord Stream’s proposed expansion
• Gazprom’s second-largest European customer, Turkey, proposes increasing its Russian gas imports by 3 bcm ‘in the near future’
• Gazprom restarts high-level talks with the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) over Russian gas deliveries to China, with the two sides united by a focus on the Altai pipeline, but divided over gas prices
• Two months after missing out to Rosneft on a lucrative deal to supply gas to Russian electricity utility, Inter RAO, Novatek signs a $4bn deal to supply 27 bcm to Moscow-based electricity generator, Mosenergo, as Gazprom loses more of the domestic Russian gas market

• December 31, 2012

Ukraine's national oil and gas stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy has signed an agreement with China Development Bank Corporation for $3.656 billion under state guarantee for projects involving the replacement of gas with coal, Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boiko's press service announced Tuesday evening.

• December 29, 2012

The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, also known as the Iron Silk Road, is expected to be completed in 2013. The railway, which is planned to have an initial yearly carrying capacity of 1.5 million passengers and 3 million tons of cargo, will pave the way for Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia to achieve better economic integration.

• December 29, 2012

Around 135,000 tons of liquefied gas has been extracted and supplied to consumers in Turkmenistan since early 2012. The main volume is intended for export, the Turkmen Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said on Thursday.

• December 29, 2012