Team Blitz India
KERALA can be the ideal location for international meets with beautiful landscapes across the state that includes hill stations, beaches, and backwater destinations, according to state Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas.
He was speaking on the inaugural day (February 16) of the two-day annual conference of the Soft Power Club at Technopark in Kochi.
Amitabh Kant, India G20 Sherpa and Director of the National Institution for Transforming India, made a presentation on India. Kant said the country blends both its soft and hard powers to project itself and to ensure that the country retains its very unique civilizational approach.
A former Kerala Cadre IAS officer, he was a key person behind the popular ‘God’s Own Country’ campaign which played its part in placing the state as a leading tourism destination. Kant has served as state’s Tourism Secretary, and also been the Managing Director of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation.
He was later Secretary of the Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Government of India. He went on to become the second chief executive officer of NITI Aayog.
In his address, Mohamed Riyas added that the state has leveraged soft power in its evolution as an inclusive society. Social and communal harmony reinforces its position as a soft power hub, he stated.
In his words, the soft power at their disposal is tourism, which is the most potent component and that has to be harnessed in a sustainable manner.
Introducing the Soft Power Club, its Founder and President Francesco Rutelli , stressed the need for the promotion of the value of international cooperation on strategic issues in difficult times. Participants and speakers also included Economic Advisory Council Member Sanjeev Sanyal, former DG of UNESCO Irina Bokova, Ambassador of Italy to India Vincenzo De Luca, and other distinguished personalities.
