The US Exim Bank, which has identified India as one of the target countries, expected the country to be its largest customer within the next 18 months.

• January 5, 2012

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday that he backs Moscow's efforts to resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear drive diplomatically, the Kremlin said.

• January 5, 2012

Anand Sharma with Saudi Trade Minister New Delhi, Jan 4 : India and Saudi Arabia have decided to promote bilateral investment and joint ventures for boosting trade as well as services between the two countries.

• January 4, 2012

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan launched the Common Economic Space (CES) on Sunday to further promote free movement of goods, capital and workforce within them.

• January 3, 2012

In a sign of mounting Russian pressure on Ukraine to share its pipeline network, Gazprom's chief executive has warned that procrastination in talks would result in a bad deal for Kyiv as construction of a competing pipeline would lead to a price slump.

• January 3, 2012

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé (pictured) has urged European countries to agree to an oil embargo on Iran by the end of January, saying he has “no doubt” Tehran is pursuing the development of nuclear arms.

• January 3, 2012

Negotiations of the JSC KEGOC delegation, (the Kazakh company running the electricity grid) with the leadership of the Uzbek state energy company Uzbekenergo in Tashkent to resolve the situation on the Kazakhstan border and the integrated electricity system in Central Asia was successful, according to a KEGOC press release on Saturday.

• January 2, 2012

NATO hopes for a quick reopening of blocked supply routes through Pakistan because the 5-week closure is damaging the economies of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, an alliance officer said Monday.

• January 2, 2012