India plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its "victory" over Pakistan in the 1965 war with a series of events, including a "grand carnival". But critics say it is in bad taste and a waste of money, writes the BBC's Geeta Pandey in Delhi.

Friends Beyond Borders is a virtual peace building course wherein an Indian and a Pakistani has been paired to be “Indo-Pak E-Pals”. Through this eight-week interactive course, the fellows are guided by a mentor who gives them weekly plans/activities based on a curriculum designed to familiarize them with the ‘other’, its culture, society, politics and the existence of divergent narratives. 

Pakistan has released a film which it hopes will enable it to step out of the shadow of India's world-famous Bollywood film industry. The film, called Bin Roye, has a budget to rival what its neighbour usually spends, and a plot that would not look out of place on Indian screens.

A former Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Singh, who held various portfolios as a Union Minister, said while India expands her presence globally through political and economic engagements, it also needs to focus on forging relations through cultural diplomacy.

An Afghan delegation has travelled to Islamabad in the latest bid to start peace talks with the Taliban, officials said on Tuesday, though there was no confirmation the militants would take part.

Today it is known as the Karakoram Highway, a twisting road carved high into the mountains along which trucks inch their way south through China and into Pakistan. You can trace the origins of this dizzying pass back to the Han dynasty, when it formed part of a trading route stretching 4,000 miles. Merchants would ferry valuable Chinese silk to markets as far west as Italy, collecting ideas from the world’s great cultures and depositing them as they went.

Pakistan and Iran share a common border and some of the same challenges as well. In recent years, there have been a number of impediments to the relationship between the two states, most of them engendered by America’s antipathy to Iran and the regime of sanctions against it deployed by the US. Those sanctions have a spillover effect on Pakistan as it may find itself the subject of American sanctions if it is seen to breach those imposed by the US — a potent threat. It has already blighted the proposed gas pipeline between the two countries.

The Comsats Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) here on Tuesday signed an agreement to formalise cooperation between the two bodies in science diplomacy. The ceremony took place at Pakistan Academy of Sciences (Pas) where Comsats Executive Director Dr Imtinan Qureshi asserted the need for pragmatic and informed decision-making regarding issues of global climate change and international commitments and policies, leading to consensus on binding international agreements.