“I’m a great believer in geography being destiny,” says Abraham Verghese, the Ethiopian-American physician and author of Indian origin.

For much of history, geography did shape destiny. Nations traded with neighbours, distance constrained diplomacy, and oceans acted as barriers that defined economic relationships. But the world is changing. In the 21st century, geography still matters, but it no longer defines destiny in the way it once did. Strategy, technology, trade corridors and human networks are reshaping the meaning of distance.

This issue of India Empire explores this changing geography through our cover story on Latin America and the Caribbean and the emerging idea of LAC First. India and Latin America may be geographically distant, but they are economically complementary — energy, critical minerals, food security, pharmaceuticals, information technology and new markets are bringing the two regions into a long-term strategic partnership. This edition showcases, on its cover, leaders of Latin American and Caribbean nations with resident diplomatic missions in India — reflecting the growing depth of India–LAC engagement. The relationship is moving from distance to strategy, from trade to investment, and from diplomacy to economic corridors.

But there is another kind of geography that is even more important — the geography of people.

“Indian diaspora, wherever they are, contribute towards the prosperity of their adopted homeland,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often said. Few countries illustrate this idea better than India. Over the past two centuries, Indians have travelled across the world — first as labourers and traders, later as professionals, and today as entrepreneurs, academics, technology leaders and global business figures. The Indian diaspora today is not merely a community spread across countries; it is a global network connecting India to economies, institutions and societies across continents.

The stories in this issue — including those of Tan Sri Joseph Adaikalam in Malaysia, Ms Saalai Manikam in Ghana, and Indian-origin entrepreneurs and professionals working across Africa, North America and other regions — reflect a larger phenomenon. These are stories of institution building, enterprise, knowledge creation, philanthropy and leadership. They are stories of individuals who contribute to their adopted countries while also strengthening India’s global presence and reputation.

Taken together, the cover story on Latin America and the stories of the Indian diaspora in this issue point to a larger idea — that India’s global presence today rests on three pillars: economic growth, strategic diplomacy, and the global Indian diaspora.

If geography was destiny in the past, then in the 21st century connectivity may well be destiny. Trade routes, technology partnerships, digital networks and diaspora communities are creating new economic and strategic maps of the world.

The distance between India and Latin America is geographical. The distance between India and Africa is geographical. The distance between India and North America is geographical. But in economic, technological and human terms, these distances are shrinking steadily. India is no longer defined only by the map of India. India is also defined by the map of the Indian diaspora.

And that map now spans the world.

Sayantan Chakravarty
sayantanc@gmail.com