The colorful filmmaker aims to build a solid relationship between filmmakers and other cultural agents in both Morocco and India. He has participated in several film festivals, including the Festival International Du Cinema D’auteur De Rabat, which took place last week in Rabat, as part of an effort in “parallel diplomacy."

Russia and China in particular have been making efforts to develop their global media reach in recent years, frequently with investments in English-language media, but this is a new step; the BRICS as a group now see the promotion of their perspectives as a crucial element of their public diplomacy and development of soft power — and they see it as a joint venture.

The show, called 'Sapno ki Baraat', was organized by the Society for Peoples' Awareness, Care & Empowerment (SPACE), an organization dedicated to working for the marginalized sections of society. [...] "LGBT rights are a part of the Netherlands' commitment to human rights. To this end, we support this program, which, we hope, will help improve things for the community in India," he said.

In the mid-2000s, when the latter perspective was ascendant, the US and UK launched a "Cultural War on Terror", mobilising art, music and film - what the state department called Public Diplomacy 2.0 - aimed at disrupting the "jihadist narrative" and spreading liberal interpretations of Islam

Pakistan has released a film which it hopes will enable it to step out of the shadow of India's world-famous Bollywood film industry. The film, called Bin Roye, has a budget to rival what its neighbour usually spends, and a plot that would not look out of place on Indian screens.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken on the role of a yoga guru for Chinese Internet users. He is providing his followers on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, a daily lesson of yoga exercise complete with sketches about different poses, and a list of benefits. Modi’s yoga posts are but the latest in a series of sweeping efforts by India to connect directly with the public in China, and try to capitalize on the two neighbors' shared links to Buddhism and other traditions in a bid to build sentimental bridges.

When the International Indian Film Academy awards, Bollywood's annual global extravaganza, opened in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, actor Anil Kapoor, filmmakers Ramesh Sippy and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and industry honchos shared the stage with an unlikely co-speaker - India's number two diplomat. Anil Wadhwa, secretary (east) in the ministry of external affairs, is in charge of India's relations with almost half the world, from Palestine to the Philippines and Syria to South Korea.