Canada’s brand could also be enhanced by associating with iconic, highly visible projects in Asian countries. For example, Ottawa should push to achieve partner-country status for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Asia’s largest building project (Japan is already there). It’s also time to revisit the argument to build a Sovereign Wealth Fund by pooling our resource rents.

Young creative people and entrepreneurs in Nigeria stand the chance of winning prizes, in a series of competition recently unveiled by theideaworks, a design and strategy firm based in Delhi. Called ‘INDIAFRICA: A Shared Future’, the initiative comprises an online contest and a young visionaries segment for young entrepreneurs in India and Africa.

The Chinese government has set up more than three hundred Confucius Institutes in 100 countries as part of a new push to boost its soft power. The centres are usually set up as a joint initiative among a host foreign university, a Chinese partner university and the Hanban, which runs the programme.

India has found a new gateway to project its Africa diplomacy as it explores a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is engaged in a range of activities in the emerging continent. This possibility of collaborating in Africa emerged from talks between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Microsoft founder Bill Gates here Thursday.

The US Consulate had planned to set up the centre for cultural exchange at the university but scrapped the same after sanctioning a sum of Rs 43 lakh to the OUCIP. “The decision was justified citing the politically charged atmosphere on the campus and the inaccessibility of the campus,” officials at the OU said.

Australia’s federal and state governments, and its universities, have the most crucial role to play in ensuring that the nation’s engagement with India is genuine. I am not discounting the importance of the economic/trade motivation that underlies a large portion of our current efforts, but this needs to be accompanied by cultural openness.

...China has rediscovered its ancient culture and traditions. Confucius enjoys a remarkable renaissance. All ar­ound the world, China has established Confucius Institutes that spread knowledge about China’s culture and its language. Soft power is not an esoteric asset. It helps a country gain respect and friends in the world at large. And, this can be of great importance, particularly in turbulent times.