Developing strong and sustainable relations with India should not be considered by Arab states as an option, but as a must. In addition to trade agreements, the two parties should consider other public diplomacy venues to develop substantial social and cultural exchanges, and boost larger people-to-people relations.

The phrase “Israelhates” had been tagged onto enough posts on Twitter that the message had become a worldwide trend topic. To combat that message of hate, Jewish Agency's social media head counters anti-Israel trend on Twitter with a message of love.

APDS Blogger: Mona El Hamdani

South Korea had given North Korea $29.5 million in aid through Unicef from 1996 until it halted amid tensions over the sinking of warship last year. Seoul's latest move signals the easing of tensions through nongovernmental aid shipments and exchanges, by resuming donation through Unicef programs for medicines, vaccines and nutrients for malnourished North Korean children.

Former Chinese basketball star and NBA player Yao Ming is named vice-chairman of Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association on Monday. As the association's "Honor Ambassador", Yao accepts he will do some "tangible work" to introduce his home city to more people by sharing his eight-year experience of living in the U.S.

China is emerging as the key deal-maker or deal-breaker as the UN climate talks head into ministerial discussions. If the EU and China can find a way forward, some observers here believe a package can be constructed that will satisfy the majority of participants.

Britain is spending £10m to tackle deforestation in Brazil in an effort to protect wildlife and reduce carbon emission. For years, the UK has pledged £2.9bn for projects to tackle climate change, especially to reduce emissions associated with deforestation, which comprise almost a fifth of annual global emissions.

Kashram agreed with Salih in saying that Turkey established only government-to-government relations within MENA; it does not use public diplomacy channels -- which function to influence public opinion in other countries via visual and print media -- but recent movements in the Arab world have required Turkey to create these ties with Arab society in the end.