"Location, location, location," as the adage goes, is the recipe to any business success. All businesses thrive on being in the right place, especially areas teeming with people.

In the world of online commerce, this advice which has been considered universally true is not completely valid, though. With the onset of online commerce, especially those facilitated by business to consumers' platforms such as TEMU, SHEIN and Amazon, more and more transactions that satisfy the needs of the buyers can be conducted on a smartphone.

In international relations, the late Henry Kissinger once said that there will come a day when even the utility or value of an "embassy is completely questionable, if at all needed." That's because more and more diplomacy can be conducted between the top leaders of the world through shuttle diplomacy or even online.

Within these two contexts, both seem to agree with the punchline of The Economist regarding "the death of geography." In the latter, distance and location no longer matter. Anything and everything can be procured by the laity and leaders alike regardless of whether it is transacted online or otherwise.

In war or peace, the physical world is becoming less and less important. What matters are the human networks that create the nexus of relationships.

Given the above, how does one try to understand the role of India? Perhaps the place to start is the ongoing visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to India. While lasting barely two days, the strategic benefits of such a visit cannot be underestimated at all, even if the trip seemed all too transient.

First and foremost, parts of India border on Myanmar, an ASEAN member state that has not lived up to its billing as an important pillar of Southeast Asia. The military junta in Myanmar is quickly disintegrating, partly due to the growing military might of the opposition groups.