Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India organized a seminar in Varanasi from March 3 to March 6, 2011 to exchange views on Indo-Nepal bilateral issues. The participants included parliamentarians, constitutional experts, political analysts, high-level bureaucrats...

Restless Indian regime with the increasing anti-India sentiment in Nepal which to a larger extent is the result of continuation of British Imperialist policy towards Nepal by India’s ruling elites since its independence in 1947, is organizing yet another seminar to discuss Nepal situation.

U.S. military psychological operations (PSYOP or psy-ops) and information operations (IO) are supposed to be directed to local and enemy populations in overseas "theaters," specific geographical areas of armed conflict, not where you watch Auntie Mame perform.

Maximum India, a 20-day cultural extravaganza of Indian soft power, kicks off here on March 1 with scores of artistes set to enthrall a capital where India is now looked on more favourably than ever before.

India is an ancient civilization with five thousand years of recorded history. Over these long years Indians have perfected many cultural attributes that may be appealing to the rest of the world - what Joseph Nye likes to call 'soft power’. Some good examples of Indian soft power are Yoga, Bollywood, Ayurveda and the great Indian cuisine (including curry and chicken tikka).

‘I am confident that the multi-continental breadth of the Geneva Consensus of May 27-28th 2009, the ‘soft power’ and ‘smart power’ it represented, the international legitimacy it confirmed, and the politico-diplomatic and strategic space for post-war Sri Lanka that it symbolised, remains safely intact and indeed ably enhanced in the hands of the professionals.’

It has been an eventful 2010 on the cultural front -- a flurry of events, be it in the spheres of theatre, films, dance, art or music. Though Dhaka was the centre of most of these happenings, in a relatively new phenomenon we had the privilege of seeing many of our talented cultural personalities making a mark in the international arena as well.

Perhaps a missing link in all these conversations is science—an underutilized means of diplomacy worldwide, and particularly in South Asia. This is especially ironic since the subcontinent is perhaps the most "geek-friendly" place on Earth!