sports diplomacy
India’s Rural Olympics, formally known as the Kila Raipur Sports Festival, is held annually each winter in Kila Raipur on the outskirts of Ludhiana, Punjab. The festival has been running since 1933. The four-day festival is a celebration of, well, rural Indian culture.
It wouldn't be senate estimates without senior Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials having to justify the presence of a $6300 ping-pong table in the 'InnovationXchange' ideas hub.[...] "Senator you call it a ping pong table, I call it a meeting table," he said. "It is used all day for meeting and not for ping pong. It is actively used throughout the day and sits 10 or 12 people around it."
The partnership opens doors to broaden the two sides’ people-to people relationship. [...] Having a sense of appreciation and understanding of each other’s culture and values can potentially broaden and deepen mutual understanding between states and peoples. In 2014, amidst tensions in the South China Sea, Vietnamese and Filipino naval personnel played football, volleyball, and tug-of-war. Both sides displayed the importance of camaraderie through sports diplomacy.
A different form of engagement with China – like through sports or cultural exchange – might help the Philippines resolve its maritime spat with the Asian giant, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said yesterday.
The Canadian man who once helped basketball hall of famer Dennis Rodman get into North Korea now wants to bring former NHL players into the isolated country to play hockey.
Qatar’s brand is now the ninth-most powerful in the world, according to an annual ranking released by UK-based consulting firm ‘Brand Finance’ in 2015. As a progressive country, Qatar, through its visionary leadership, has used many strategies, in particular its soft power, to enhance its position in the international community.
Pat Farmer is an acclaimed ultra long-distance endurance runner from Australia. […] Now 53, Pat is getting ready for a run across India, from Kanyakumari in the south to Kashmir in the north. His run will symbolically begin on January 26, coinciding with Australia Day and India’s Republic Day. […] He is collaborating with a leading charity to raise money for the education of young girls.

The PD of a cross-India run.