Will another person of Indian origin rule a foreign country?

US Vice President Kamala Harris looks set to become the country's first Asian American and Black female president.

Harris stepped in as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination early this month after US President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to succeed him as the Democratic candidate and endorsed her to lead the party's ticket in the November election against former President Donald Trump.

59-year-old Harris, born to Indian and Jamaican parents in California, has secured the support of a majority of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention who will officially determine the party's nominee next month, putting her in line to become the candidate.

If Harris wins the race, the 47th US President will be the first woman President. She already has many firsts to her credit - the first woman, the first African American, the first Asian American and the first Indian American to hold the vice-presidency of the United States. 

Indians have proved beyond doubt that they are a force to be reckoned with in global politics and they have demonstrated the extent of their political influence in the global arena.

The following is a list of 32 former and current heads of state and heads of government of sovereign countries who were/are of full or partial Indian origin, other than the heads of state and government of countries of the Indian subcontinent. This list does not include acting, interim, transitional, temporary or representative heads of state and government.

1)    Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius (12 March 1968-30 June 1982 – 14 years, 110 days)
2)    Alfredo Nobre da Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal (28 Aug 1978-22 Nov 1978 – 86 days) 
3)    Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia (16 July 1981-31 Oct 2003 and 10 May 2018-1 March 2020 – 24 years, 38 years)
4)    Devan Nair, President of Singapore (23 Oct 1981-27 March 1985 – 3 years 155 days)
5)    Fred Ramdat Misier, President of Suriname (South America; 8 Feb 1982-25 Jan 1988 – 5 years 351 days)
6)    Anerood Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius (30 June 1982-22 Dec 1995 and 17 Sept 2000-30 Sept 2003 – 18 years 225 days)  
7)    Errol Alibux, Prime Minister of Suriname (26 Feb 1983-8 Jan 1984 – 316 days) 
8)    Pretaap Radhakishun, Prime Minister of Suriname (17 July 1986-7 April 1987 – 264 days)
9)    Noor Hassanali, President of Trinidad and Tobago (20 March 1987-17 March 1997 – 9 years, 362 days)
10)    Ramsewak Shankar, President of Suriname (25 Jan 1988-24 Dec 1990 – 2 years, 333 days)
11)    Veerasamy Ringadoo, President of Mauritius (12 March 1992-30 June 1992, 110 days)
12)    Cassam Uteem, President of Mauritius (30 June 1992-15 Feb 2002 – 9 years 230 days)
13) Cheddi Jagan, President of Guyana (9 Oct 1992-6 March 1997 – 4 years 148 days)
14) Basdeo Panday, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (9 Nov 1995-24 Dec 2001 – 6 years 45 days)
15) Navin Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius (27 Dec 1995-11 Sept 2000 and 5 July 2005-17 Dec 2014 – 14 years 59 days)
16) Mahendra Chaudhry, Prime Minister of Fiji (19 May 1999-27 May 2000 – 1 year 8 days)
17) Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana (11 Aug 1999-3 Dec 2011 – 12 years 112 days)
18) S. R. Nathan, President of Singapore (1 Sept 1999-31 Aug 2011- 11 years 364 days)
19) Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (26 May 2010-9 Sep 2015 – 5 years 108 days)
20) Donald Ramotar,  President of Guyana (3 Dec 2011-16 May 2015 – 3 years 164 days)
21) Kailash Purryag, President of Mauritius (21 July 2012-29 May 2015 – 2 years 312 days)
22) Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius (5 June 2015-23 March 2018 – 2 years 291 days)
23) António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal (26 Nov 2015-2 April 2024 – 8 years 128 days)
24) Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius (23 January 2017 Incumbent)
25) Leo Varadkar Taoiseach (Ireland), Head of Govt (14 June 2017-27 June 2020 and 17 Dec 2022-9 April 2024)
26) Halimah Yacob, President of Singapore (14 Sept 2017-14 Sept 2023 – 6 years)
27) Prithvirajsing Roopum, President of Mauritius (2 Dec 2019 Incumbent) 
28) Chan Santokhi, President of Suriname (16 July 2020 Incumbent)
29) Irfan Ali, President of Guyana (2 Aug 2020 Incumbent)
30) Wavel Ramkalawan, President of Seychelles (26 Oct 2020 Incumbent)
31) Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (25 Oct 2022-5 July 2024 – 1 year 254 days)
32) Christine Kangaloo, President of Trinidad and Tobago (20 March 20 Incumbent).

What a turn of events! It’s a great contradiction that as the Prime Minister, an Indian – Rishi Sunak - ruled Britain, a great empire and a global power in the 19th and early 20th centuries that once ruled India. 

Similarly, let’s hope that Kamala Harris, who is of Indian origin, will get a chance to govern the world's only superpower, the United States of America. 

The onus now rests on the voters.