External Affairs Ministry has emerged as one of the top central ministries to effectively use the social media with its Twitter handle @MEAIndia crossing one million followers. "Marking a #digitaldiplomacy milestone with 1,000,000+ followers! Hope to continue to serve & inform in the best traditions of the MEA," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup, who runs the handle, tweeted.

For Monasterio and others, the visit merges soft diplomacy through cultural and student exchanges with state diplomacy. "It's in the people-to-people world ... where Canadian-Cuban relationships are the most significant," said Karen Dubinsky, who teaches in a joint Queen's University-University of Havana course that brings Cuban students to Canada and sends Canadian students to Cuba.

China and the US have conducted joint humanitarian and disaster relief exercises at the US Bellows barracks in Hawaii. On Sunday, troops from the two countries practised providing emergency aid to a third country hit by a devastating typhoon.

During his Peruvian trip, Xi is also scheduled to attend the 24th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in capital Lima. “It is believed that the two ancient civilisations, respectively located on the east and west coast of the Pacific Ocean, will write a new chapter of friendship under the political guidance of the two heads of state,” Jia added. 

American soft power - a facet of foreign relations that relies on attraction rather than coercion - has been severely damaged, and this will have a devastating effect on the role of the United States in the world. Even when their country was engaged in foreign misadventures such as the Iraq War, the American people remained widely admired for their freedom, imagination, and ingenuity. 

That Mr. Duterte’s contribution to international statecraft, the annals of which already include Ping-Pong diplomacy, would include karaoke might come as little surprise to those he leads. [...] Karaoke bars are an essential part of social life in the Philippines, and virtually every home in the country has a karaoke machine. A passion for public singing has led to competitive television shows, a multimillion-dollar business of migrant worker entertainers and several murders.

The government needs to be more open, creative and clear in its communications with the wider world, instead of the conservative, secretive and dull methods that are currently the norm. [...] It’s needs a 21st century restatement of mission and objectives, and expansion of coverage to reach more audiences. It also needs a complete technical and content re-gig.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to three Latin American countries will boost the comprehensive partnership of cooperation between China and Latin America [...] This is Xi's third visit to Latin America since he took office in 2013, hailing the flourishing momentum of the development of China-Latin America ties in past years.