Soft power and Sikh influence

The India-Canada row highlights our double-edged soft power

In the 1960s, the British government was rocked by a spicy scandal. John Profumo, the secretary of state for war (defence minister, in other words) was “friendly” with a “model” called Christine Keelor, who was also “friendly” with Commander Valery Ivanov, the Soviet Naval Attache.

Keelor first met Profumo at the house of another ruling party politician, Lord Astor. She was also friendly with Mandy Rice-Davies, a “model” with whom she shared living quarters. Rice-Davies was “friendly” with Lord Astor.

The lid came off all these cosy “friendships” when British Intelligence flagged the contacts as undesirable. Stephen Ward, who was