What Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra has to say about UAE

The world has become smaller with social media and it is important to teach children to deal with the negativity that the new media spews, Bollywood actor and global icon Priyanka Chopra Jonas said on Wednesday.
"The world has become a very small place with Internet and with everything around it," said the actor and activist while speaking at the 9^th edition of the International Government Communication Forum (IGCF) that opened in Sharjah.
Chopra said that she is happy to see Sharjah creating a culture having governments to talk about communication and using entertainment to be able to do that, adding that it is "incredible" and "need of the hour". "It is a force to reckon with around the world."
Speaking to Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the conference, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who has over 50 million followers on Instagram, admitted that it's impossible to evade negative criticism in today's age.
"There is a lot of negativity and hate that comes along with communication and freedom of communication, because everyone has the right of saying what they want and what they don't want.
"The most important thing for us is to prepare our children, the young ones that are born into the world of social media, to learn to combat negativity," she added.
Urging experts and legislative officials to expand their support of arts and cinema, she further said: "The world is a melting pot and it's the best time to promote culture through cinema. Different does not necessarily mean scary. So people in positions of power are conduits to take positive messages forward and amplify meaningful dialogue."
She hailed the efforts and leadership of the Sharjah Ruler for having transformed the emirate over the past five decades into a regional hub for cultural advancement.
"The UAE and Sharjah are doing an incredible job through this forum, by bringing so many experts and government entities together where governments and entertainers collaborate to spread the message as far and as wide as possible. It's a very important time to bridge cultures and to not highlight the differences but to focus on commonalities. My wedding sparked off so many discussions about accepting each other's cultures".
Sharing her thoughts on the UAE and her travels between America and India she concluded by saying, "Since I often keep travelling between the East and the West, I see myself as a bridge. I see myself as a representation of immigrants from all over the world in the US. So, we are constantly culturally, cross-pollinating."
reporters@khaleejtimes.com

• Sharjah