India's strength does not lie with its nuclear weapons or its missiles or the size of its armed forces. India real strength lies with the IT, its culture, its civilization and its vibrant democracy. Today, India's soft power is everywhere, in every nook and corner of the world and you see India through its dance, through its music, though its food...

The hockey heads of Pakistan and India are attempting to renew ties later this year in the wake of last month's successful "cricket diplomacy." Efforts are underway between the federations of the two countries, who have not played in a bilateral series since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, to play matches in both countries.

In their quest to accord further impetus to ties between Indian and Pakistan after cricket diplomacy somewhat thawed them, the hockey honchos of the two countries are mulling giving another push to the bilateral relations later this year.

External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna is starting a three-day official visit to Nepal from 20 April 2011. His visit comes at a time when Nepal is passing through political and economic uncertainties. The deadline for the drafting of the constitution is drawing nearer and the exercise has to be completed within the next forty days.

Indian bureaucracy needs to take some lessons on public diplomacy from their Western counterparts, and the same is the case with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Office. With corruption becoming a key rallying point, the extra-sensitive PMO mandarins ensured that the electronic media was booted out of the onboard media from the PM's recent trip to China

Can a poor country be a great power? Three examples from recent history suggest it can. These parallels would have weighed on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's mind as he flew to the southern resort city of Sanya in China's Hainan province for the BRICS (a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit.

The United States and India, budding economic and political partners, share a common problem. Despite providing aid and repeatedly attempting diplomacy, both nations cannot eradicate what President Barack Obama has called the "cancer" of terrorism in Pakistan.