‘Needed, a platform to promote cultural diplomacy between Australia, India’

In this year's Australia India Youth Dialogue (AIYD), delegates discussed, debated and collaborated on ideas of ‘Digital Disruption’ in the fields of democracy, media and workplace. The dialogue further explored the future of democracy – governing and youth civic engagement in a digital age, the future of information – blockchain and cyber security in a digital age and the future of work – the impact of exponential technologies, and the advent of the sharing economy on labour markets.

AIYD builds channels and creates opportunities to equip youth, leaders and communities with cultural capacity and intelligence, to not just manage conflicts but also to foster collaborations between the two countries. "An important aspect of cultural diplomacy is to build cultural intelligence and capacity among youth, leadership, organisations and communities. Technology is going to disrupt the way we live in a social, economic environment and cultural context in the next 10 decade, far more drastically," said Karan Anand, Chair, AIYD.

Both the governments believe in building cultural diplomacy as a tool for fostering bilateral relations effectively. "What we need is a formal international platform for championing cultural diplomacy through the exchange of cultural and social ideas, knowledge and strategy, between Australia and India along with other diplomacy discussions on security, trade & investments, natural resources and business collaborations. Given the current state of affairs, a cross-disciplinary exchange would be a more holistic approach to improving bilateral relations," said Achyutha Sharma, AIYD Steering Committee Member and Director, Collaborative Community.

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