The celebrations that took place last week on the sixty fifth anniversary of the establishment of Pakistan-Chinese relationship were again marked by lack of events that signified Chinese soft power.

Pakistan's UN mission recently organised a cultural festival of ideas for the first time in the history of foreign office in New York, and it aimed to promote Pakistan's diverse cultural aspects including arts and literature. [...] A combination of cultural and public diplomacy is not only a powerful tool that can improve public image but can also help bring economic investment and tourism opportunities. 

The Pakistan Embassy arranged a range of educational and cultural programming in collaboration with the Cultural Tourism DC that increased public awareness about Pakistan.

News reports are filled with stories that make Muslims, and those in religious minorities where they live, feel uneasy. It’s clear that for many, the world has become a fearful place. So when The Star received an email from a Muslim high school exchange student expressing hope and idealism about the state of the world, editors took notice.

“Besides improving my skills in English language, the program helped built confidence in terms of my ability to interact with people”, says Aleena—a grade 9 student.  For another student, Sidra, the Access Program proved helpful in studies as she explored English grammar through the program which helped her do good in studies. 

Much of diplomacy happening between India and Pakistan is "cultural diplomacy", former foreign secretary Shyam Saran today said and credited Bollywood as one of the binding factors in forging people-to- people ties between the two countries. 

In spite of persistent conflict and the rapidly changing political  configurations across the Middle East, Arab countries must galvanise around their common interests [...] Additionally, a shared language, cultural affinity and a rich resource base must act as rallying points to bring the region together.