Developing friendly cooperation with both India and Pakistan, a pair of neighbors with many disputes, meets the interests of China, as well as the interests of the whole region. China has played a positive role in the continuous easing of the relationship between India and Pakistan. China has not played balancing strategy, using one country against the other.

A new, three-minute ad by Coca-Cola, “Small World Machines,” starts with a relatively straightforward premise: India and Pakistan do not get along so well. It ends with the promise of peace: “Togetherness, humanity, this is what we all want, more and more exchange,” a woman, either Indian or Pakistani, narrates as the music swells. Sounds great. How do we get there? By buying Coke, of course.

The History Project, comprising excerpts from three Indian textbooks and nine Pakistani textbooks, provides students an illuminating comparison of the ways that key historical events – leading up to partition – are taught in schools in both countries.

Overall, the members of Della Mae demonstrated that they are among the best cultural ambassadors the U.S. has to offer, not only because of their immeasurable talent, but because of their ability to build relationships on a one-to-one basis.

For two weeks earlier this month, Robert A. Richter was traveling in Pakistan, scouting performing artists as part of a new cultural diplomacy initiative. Richter, the director of arts programming at Connecticut College, was asked to be part of a team that was assessing talent for Center Stage, a program of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The Indian media is trying to treat China at par with Pakistan over the recent provocations over the border. "Why don't we warn China?" or "India should take a tough stand" are some of the questions being raised by some belligerent mediapersons, but this is a kind of oversimplifying foreign policy issues, something which an important country like India has not prioritised on expected lines.

The Pakistani teenager who survived an assassination attempt and inspired a worldwide movement for girls' education will soon become a published author. Malala Yousafzai, 15, says she wants her book, "I Am Malala," to reveal and help children across the world who still struggle to get to school.