India connects submarine cable to islands where some still live in the stone age

India has inaugurated a submarine cable between the mainland and the Andaman and Nicobar islands, an archipelago 1350km from the nation’s east coast. When the islands make international news it is often because of the inhabitants of North Sentinel Island, a speck of land that it is forbidden to approach because its residents …

[Anonymous Coward]

Speck of land....

"a speck of land that it is forbidden to approach because its residents appear not to have left the stone age and like it that way. Indeed, the island’s residents are openly hostile to visitors: a missionary who paddled onto the island in 2018 was murdered."

Sounds like Wigan.

[Chris G]

Re: Speck of land....

Sounds like several of the local pubs in Southeast London when I lived there.

[Dr. G. Freeman]

Re: Speck of land....

Have they discovered fire yet in Wigan ?

Last time I was there at the station waiting for a connecting train, was asked for a light (for cigarettes) that often, began to wonder.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Speck of land....

>Have they discovered fire yet in Wigan ?

They discovered pies, and happily having reached the pinnacle of civilisation decided to stop there

[Troy Tempest]

Re: Speck of land....

Definition of a Wigan “balanced diet” - a pie in each hand.

Credit: Ken Dodd

[Anonymous Coward]

a speck of land that it is forbidden to approach because its residents appear not to have left the stone age and like it that way

And not a day goes by when I think that they may have the right idea, after all ...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not sure they are not ruled by some loonies too, like North Korea, just with spears instead of missiles...

[Nifty]

By connecting an undersea fibre cable to the island, India's hoping that it'll be a little bit harder for China to claim it as sovereign territory.

[Fruit and Nutcase]

About the same distance as these islands are from India is Sri Lanka...

"How China Got Sri Lanka to Cough Up a Port"

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lanka-port.html

That's in the South East of the country - they've also mitts on the area around Colombo Port

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

>India's hoping that it'll be a little bit harder for China to claim it as sovereign territory.

It's an island in the Indian ocean - surely that makes it British !

[Fruit and Nutcase]

It's an island in the Indian ocean - surely that makes it British !

Well, as British as all the British Industry that is now Indian owned

[Barry Mahon]

I hope they are not British or ever were.

The last Brit islands in that corner of the world, in the Indian Ocean, are now the largest US base outside the continental bit. Diego Garcia, 'provided' by the Brits after they had unloaded the natives to Mauritius. Even though the UN said that was, and still is, illegal, the Brits have told the UN to f off, presumably 'cos the US told them to.

Maybe after brexit they'll unload a few other places, NI, for example.

The Empire strikes back?