Art is often the vehicle of choice in building bridges in cultural diplomacy. The “Ahh” moment is one of appreciation when our imagination has been captured. Cultural diplomacy can take the inherent power of art and transform it from an “Ahh” moment of appreciation found in one cultural setting to an “Aha!” moment of delight and wonder in other cultural settings.

For me, in the flood of news a headline bears special importance for Northeast Asia security. The guideline reiterated by President Hu Jintao about boosting the "cultural soft power" of China recognizes that "culture has increasingly become a major element bringing together the people and the creative power of Chinese nationality".

The authoritarian Government prefers the docile, cuddly panda as the national insignia, and uses the iconic endangered species as highly successful soft power diplomatic gifts, with the most recent pair sent to Edinburgh Zoo.

The Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF) lined up a host of cultural activities to celebrate the 100th Year of the Emergence of Delhi as the capital city. In its 5th year, India’s ‘Signature Festival’ maintained its strong position on the international cultural map... The festival served as a significant platform for cultural diplomacy, cutting across geographical barriers and looking beyond cultural stereotypes.

The Government of Spain's Ministry of Culture - Casa Asia, the Cervantes Institute and the Spanish embassy in New Delhi joined hands to promote the Spanish 'cultural industries' in India through the third edition of “New Urban Cultures” programme.

My office, part of the State Department’s public diplomacy efforts, was responsible for enlisting museums to assemble art exhibitions that would be presented overseas, creating cultural links and displaying art that would “tell America’s story.”

India, with its unique cultural and civilisation strengths has tremendous assets in the soft power arena that are yet to be fully harnessed effectively. Its multi-ethnic culture, peace-generating civilisation values that includes religious and philosophical ideals, and the unique art forms and literatures are perhaps the core of this soft power asset mix.

A group of Iranian and South Korean artists will be gathering in Masuleh in northern Iran to create artworks with the central theme of a culture of peace for ten days beginning on November 23. The artworks will later go on display in an exhibition at the Iranian Artists Forum.