They have a shared history, and now officials want to unite India and the Arab world as two major trading blocs. The Indus and Ganges rivers on the one hand and Tigris and Euphrates and Nile rivers on the other were home to some of the world’s first civilisations. And that, officials believe, matters for the future.

Audiences most likely know Egyptian-American stand-up comedian Ahmed Ahmed as a member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour. “Comedians have become, most recently, cultural ambassadors of the world,” Ahmed said. “Whether you're in Africa, or America, or Russia, or Asia, laughter is the common language of the world.”

At its core, the exhibit offered a window into how Arab cultures create identity using social codes and physical structures, while also highlighting how people and artists must take care to change their behavior in certain regimented contexts. "Art is a part of Iranian culture, and in the process of researching this show..."

The US official emphasised that the social media can be more effective tool in the hands of young Arabs to fight extremism and violence if properly used since it is an effective soft power that can spread the message of tolerance, understanding and modernity on a larger scale and enhance the impact of their countries in various global arenas.

The use of public diplomacy and social media can both be powerful tools in sharing ideas and messages that counter extremism and properly convey the cultures and ideas of countries, a senior US government official said at Zayed University on Wednesday.

Some of the Kingdom’s young people have joined a cultural exchange program that aims at giving them the opportunity to share and gain more practical knowledge [...] during the initial trips of the program, called “Direction Tour — Knowledge/Culture Exchange Program."