India’s Festival of Lights — is celebrated by Hindus worldwide, and often by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, too. The holiday is increasingly popular in the United States, where the traditional diya (clay lamp) symbolizing the triumph of good over evil is seen from coast to coast.

Until today, the Muslim and Hindu cultural exchange has been so strong in the villages of Barmer and Jaisalmer districts, that it becomes almost close to impossible to segregate a Muslim from a Hindu or a Hindu from a Muslim from just their attire or language.

Pakistani border troops on Wednesday presented sweets and exchanged greetings with their Indian counterparts on the occasion of the Hindu festival of Diwali […] Despite ceasefire violations and violence in the disputed Himalayan region, the exchange of sweets between Indian and Pakistani army personnel along the LoC on their respective days of national importance has been a recurring feature.

The Narendra Modi government feels that Ramayana, the eternal battle between good and evil, holds a borderless appeal and carrying the message of the Ramayana to international audience is the need of the hour. The MEA commissions films worth crores of rupees every year. Normally it stays away from religious topics and chooses subjects which give it heft for soft power projection or furthers national interests or promotes relations with friendly countries.