The Pakistan High Commission has started an Urdu Language Training Center in the Sri Lankan capital. The avowed purpose of the venture is to help Lankans who go to Pakistan either for higher studies or to do business, communicate with locals. But it is undeniable that one of the aims of the Center is to counter the spread of Hindi, which is already a hugely popular language in Lanka thanks to Bollywood films and their songs.

Whatever the successes of US public diplomacy since the attacks of September 11, 2001, they pale in comparison to the cavalcade of scandals. And all these foreign policy “missteps” or manifestations of “imperial hubris”—take your pick—predate the rise of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or ISIS, the latest fixation of State Department attempts at counter-radicalization through messaging.

The Roots IVY University College on Tuesday invited Ambassador Jauhar Saleem for an interactive session with the undergraduate and A-levels students to enlighten them about the dynamics and functions of the prestigious Foreign Service of Pakistan. Ambassador Saleem is Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Germany. [...] He also underscored the importance of public diplomacy in modern conduct of relations among countries.