Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be combining a well-calibrated soft power push with his visit to China, leveraging social media, Bollywood and yoga to reach out to ordinary Chinese citizens.

Interestingly, the ‘Himalayan tragedy’ provided India with a readymade opportunity to score brownie points over its main rival and neighbour China on aid diplomacy and the Narendra Modi administration grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Although China had overtaken India as Nepal’s largest foreign investor in 2014, Beijing failed to catch up with New Delhi’s humanitarian diplomacy on this occasion.

A first-ever centre dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi in China will be opened next week on Saturday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Shanghai, the last city on this three-day tour to China. The centre for Gandhian studies will be launched by PM Modi on Saturday afternoon at the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai, shortly before the prime minister concludes his visit with a community reception.

Aimed at enhancing China’s cultural exchanges with foreign countries, an international dance fest will kick off in July in the autonomous region of Xinjiang. According to the region's government, the fourth edition of the festival will showcase talents from Xinjiang, other Chinese provinces and other participating countries.

A first ever centre dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi in China will be opened next week on Saturday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Shanghai, the last city on this three-day tour to China. 

Russia marked 70 years since the victory over Nazi Germany on Saturday with a spectacular parade in Moscow featuring some 16,000 soldiers, 200 armored vehicles and 150 planes and helicopters. This is expected to be the last major anniversary of the conflict when significant numbers of World War II veterans are still alive to take part.

The army is one of China's biggest tourist draws, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. In recent years, the warriors have joined the giant panda as a tool of Chinese "soft power," with several batches being exhibited overseas to enthusiastic crowds.

Japan and China agreed to boost people-to-people exchanges on Thursday during the first talks between their consular officials in three years, the Foreign Ministry said in Tokyo. The two countries also agreed during the talks in Tokyo to expedite visa processing for Chinese tourists visiting Japan who are growing in number.