Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.
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Addon - NY post isn't reliable, but the story is too good. NK soldiers are [getting hooked on porn](https://nypost.com/2024/11/05/world-news/us-cant-confirm-north-korean-soldiers-in-russia-hooked-on-porn-after-getting-internet-access/.com
The India-Canada relationship has reached a proper boiling point, and the feeling is mutual.
India's frictions with Canada go back 40 years, during Senior Trudeau's reign. The cracks began when Canada refused to extradite or prosecute the terrorists who hijacked Air India Flight 182 (The 2nd most lethal aviation terror attack after 9/11). Since then, Canada has accepted a steady stream of India's-most-wanted, and developed a 'healthy' underworld of Sikh radicals. For the longest time, India took a 'not my problem' approach to this issue, and it became dormant.
That is until Trudeau started acting in a frankly baffling manner that still confuses Indians. First, he invited a wanted terrorist (now refugee in Canada) to be part of his delegation during his visit to India. It's the kind of stuff that propagates Canada's image as an unserious nation. Then he began directly interfering in Indian politics. Then to put the cherry on top, he visited while effective performing a skit about the adventures of brown-face trudeau. It's hard to explain, Trudeau was India's main meme for months. He is now India's unanimously top-hated world leader, more than legitimate adversaries like Xi or Imran Khan. By this point, Hindus were reporting frequent harassment in Canada, Punjab police began tracing crime rings back to Canada and Trudeau's condescending responses made India abandon its 'not my problem' policy on Canada.
The Nijjar fiasco projected this conflict into the stratosphere, but the Camel's back has been broken for a few years now.
This is no over-reaction. The Liberal (Trudeau)-NDP alliance and Modi's India are now permanent adversaries. Canada is headed for a landslide conservative win. The Conservatives & India have historically maintained a neutral stance with each other. And with Trump coming back, I am optimistic that things will quiet down on the India- Canada front. But yeah, we aren't becoming friends again. Within India, the overwhelming opinion on the Canada-Nijjar fiasco is : "We didn't do it. But if we did, that's even better." So, Modi has no incentive to back down. This is amazing PR for him.
It's a classic for a reason
“You can't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors. You know, eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard.” ― Hillary Rodham Clinton
This is an odd one. A sub-ethnic war (it's active war between 2 tribal groups in the mountains) broke out in India (for 3 years now), and has now spilled over to Myanmar. The refugees are less of concern. The Indian Govt. has done very little to control this vigilante mob of war criminals on either side. The standard thing would be to declare emergency, crack down hard and engage in violent suppression of this separatist uprising. But in the aftermath of Kashmir's first democratic elections since Sec 370 was revoked, Modi has been looking to portray a 'stable India' image. Both sub-ethnicities are minorities with little say in national politics. So, the center has taken a 'not our problem' approach to it. Frankly, it is reckless and embarrassing.
I'm presuming they're migrating to Southern Europe. Marseille, Naples & the Mediterranean are already flooded with immigrants. It's surprising how little right-wing leaders like Meloni have done to limit incoming refugees.
Yes, but also within Africa. Within Africa migration is much easier than moving to another continent.
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Somehow I doubt that either the Russians or the Norks would provide Nork soldiers with unsupervised/unmonitored smartphones with unlimited browser access. Why would they be given smartphones anyway?
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