What if Washington had concluded that this competition required not more military might, but more and smarter investment in education, innovation, energy and the environment, and the full unfolding of America's soft power?

Essentially, the heart of our public diplomacy initiative is to engage more effectively beyond the official level contacts. Sort of going beyond the seminar circuit and establishing a people-to-people contact... The mode involves targeting campus interactions, developing contests, which get young people to think creatively beyond collaborations, beyond summit level engagement. It’s a work in progress.

There are government agencies such as the police forces in Delhi, Indore and Meerut which use Facebook creatively to track crimes and keep citizens informed . The ministry of external affairs has come in for praise for using Twitter as a tool for public diplomacy. But such examples are few and far between.

Cowboys and Aliens was the biggest, shiniest fruit yet to fall off the tree planted in July 2009 by Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks and India's Reliance Entertainment. What Reliance are attempting – to perform locally within India as a Bollywood production house, and step up to the international stage, too – is extremely difficult.

The youth here dislike the armed forces. They are confused and susceptible to being radicalised. Unemployment level is high. It is a challenge dealing with them and that is why we are focusing on the soft power aspect. We have held interactions with students from Kashmir University and are now tapping into the National Cadet Corps, sensitising them.

Heather Layton and Brian Bailey set off from Rochester, NY... arranged a contemporary painting show, attended the region's major cultural festival and mounted a screening of films by both emerging New York and Naga filmmakers.

As anticorruption crusader Anna Hazare put an end to his 13-day hunger strike on Sunday, tens of thousands of citizens celebrated what many described as the triumph of his anticorruption movement. Bollywood also joined the celebrations. From superstar Amitabh Bachchan toBollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar, Twitter was flooded with posts congratulating the 73-year-old Gandhian activist.

An important asset that New Delhi has failed to exploit vis-à-vis its neighbours is its soft power. Sports, economy, Bollywood, education, infrastructure, healthcare, tourism, history and heritage — there is so much that can be used by the country to influence its neighbourhood.