Political dialogue, cultural diplomacy and economic cooperation will be three crucial components of President Pratibha Patil's maiden visit to China from May 26 during which she will also inaugurate the first Indian-style Buddhist temple 'white horse' in Luoyang.

China’s current reputation for power benefits from projections about the future. Some young Chinese use these projections to demand a greater share of power now, and some Americans urge preparation for a coming conflict similar to that between Germany and Britain a century ago.

China welcomed a nuclear fuel swap deal Iran announced after talks with Brazil and Turkey and urged negotiations over the dispute, but Western powers rejected the deal as too little to halt momentum for sanctions.

DOT paintings from the indigenous Papunya community are heading to the heart of Beijing. In an exercise in cultural diplomacy, packers at the National Museum of Australia spent yesterday sliding paintings from its successful 2007-08 exhibition into crates marked for the National Art Museum of China.

Covering at least 1.5 billion people across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan, SAARC is one of the largest regional organizations in the world. But its achievements so far have been so minimal that even its constituents have become lackadaisical in their attitudes toward it.

A photo exhibition called "Charming Beijing" was held in Bangalore, the capital of southern India's Karnataka state on Sunday to observe the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India.

The idea of a China model can also be seen as a projection of "soft power"— achieving co-option and attraction based on values, culture and institutions. The 2008 Beijing Olympics and the current Shanghai World Expo are examples of projecting soft power.

Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt seems more interested in keeping the peace with China than with Apple Inc. and other rivals in the rapidly growing smart phone market. At least that's how it sounded Thursday during Google's annual shareholder meeting, where Schmidt spoke with a diplomat's restraint while discussing the Internet search leader's tenuous position in China.