September 13th 2012
Following an aide through the halls of Indian Capital Building, Aslan, the ambassador of the Central Ilkhanate tried to remember everything he had been told before he had left the temporary Ilkhanate Government HQ in Byzantium. The Khan had, while not been eager to deal with India the way they planned to, atleast recognized the merit in Aslan’s mission.
The Khan had wanted to deal with India the way he had steered the nation to deal with the Republic, as in at the end of a gun. Luckily, in Aslan’s opinion, the Khan had managed to be talked out of it, but not without multiple, long, arguments between the Khan and his direct underlings. It was thanks to that arguments that the ambassador was even able to be here and now he could gain more for the Ilkhanate in a single stroke of the pen, then the Khan would in his war with China. Aslan would never say that in public, a random disappearance was always a possibility to watch out for in the Ilkhanate.
India had had its problems when the last Government fell, and in reality much of it was still fractured. More specifically the North and the South had been split with the fall of the Government. While the North still had its internal problems, much of the country remained united under a single government, and what wasn’t was being pulled back into it by force of arms. The South had its own problems, but Aslan wasn’t concerned about those. The Khan was only focused on the North for reasons that were his own, and so it was Aslan was the only ambassador sent to India, though another Ambassador was being sent to Bangladesh at this very moment.
As it was he was just about to have his first meeting with the leadership of North India, which had, despite the last democracies failure, decided to stay with that form of government. At this time North India had no clear president, as elections were on hold till they could unite all the regions of India, and it meant Aslan was going to be dealing with more than a dozen state representatives at once.
Alsan felt that the negotiations would most likely go well. In China the Ilkhanate was pushing deep into Republican lands, and that momentum would help boost his position. He didn’t think this was going to be anything close to an easy or short negotiation though. The deal he would be bringing to the table was certain to meet some resistance, and it was likely he would be here most of the war with the Republic, if only because that war would come to a quick end if he was successful.
When Aslan approached the government chambers he had to deal with some stares from the guards. Many in India distrusted the Ilkhanate, and he had to admit, not without reason. The Ilkhanate hadn’t exactly been the friendliest nation in the past, and the predisposition against them would be one of the more difficult things he would have to defeat. Still though he was let into the chamber with no problems, and found himself infront of the collective leaders of North India. Nineteen men sat at a long table, which had room for a few more seats, and Aslan noticed, state names already assigned to almost all the empty seats. The confidence of the Government was admittedly deserved. The remaining independent states had little chance of surviving against the combined North. It still nearly made Aslan raise his eyebrow in question, but he kept on a neutral face.
“Hello honourable leaders of India.” Aslan said, “I come today to present an offer from the Central Ilkhanate.”
“The ‘Mighty’ Ilkhanate extending a hand in peace? This is new.” One of the men said, the plate at his seat labeled him as the delegate from Maharashtra. The attitude was just about what Aslan expected from many of the Indian states.
“My Khan knows that sometimes words can just be as effective as strength.” He responded, keeping his face neutral.
“It only took him twenty years to figure it out.” The Maharashtran shot back.
“Let the man speak.” Another delegate, this one from Rajasthan, cut in.
“The Ilkhanate offers an alliance with the country of India. This will not be a standard alliance though. Instead the Ilkhanate proposes to create the Central Asian Federation, also known as the C.A.F. The C.A.F. will be a single governing body over all nations that should join it, at this time that shall include both India and the Central Ilkhanate. The C.A.F. Government shall be comprised of an equal number of members from every nation within the C.A.F.”
Taking a moment to catch his breath, Aslan saw that a number of the delegates were intrigued already. Not taking any longer than necessary he continued “The armed forces of all nations within the C.A.F. shall be combined under the single banner of the Federation Armed Forces and all military technology shall be shared between C.A.F. countries. The F.A.F. shall act to protect the interests of all C.A.F. nations equally, and ensure that any act of aggression against a C.A.F. nation shall be dealt with by the entire Federation.”
A few more delegates became interested, but at the same time a good number showed their adversity to the idea on their faces. They knew that India would bare most of the burden of the F.A.F. but at the same time the extra support from the Ilkhanate, even if it was relatively small, could not be overlooked. Taking one more moment to breath, Aslan finished, “and finally all citizens of a C.A.F. nation shall be allowed to reside within the boundaries of any other C.A.F. nation lawfully and will face no discrimination from the State, Courts, Military, Businesses, etc.”
That caused a lot more anger then the F.A.F. act could have. Even some of the delegates who had formerly looked on board cringed at that. Aslan knew right then that at this time he was unlikely to succeed. Too many delegates either looked openly against the idea, or showed no opinion at all. One of the delegates, the one from Delhi itself, stood up and said “If you could leave us for now Ambassador, we need to discuss this offer among ourselves. We will call you back when we are finished.”
September 14th, 2012
It was midway through the next day before Aslan was recalled to the chamber. Standing infront of the delegates again he knew for certain that his offer had been refused, but what he wasn’t expecting was how it was.
“The government of India sees little merit in the Central Asian Federation at this time. With the Ilkhanate entering into war with the Republic we do not believe it is a safe act to enter into the C.A.F. Until the Ilkhanate proves that India shall not attract the wrath of the Republic from this conflict we shall not sign on, though you are free to stay in the city to assist us in keeping contact with your government.”
Aslan had been expecting a flat out no, not a condition. Effectively the Indian government had said that if the Ilkhanate could prove its ability to defeat the Republic then they would sign on to the C.A.F. It took a bit of willpower to avoid trying to explain how well the Ilkhanate advance into the Republic was going at this time, the war was still young and the early advances could easily be turned. At the very least Aslan would have something to do till the war was fully in the Ilkhanates favour, if he could convince more delegates of the Ilkhanate’s power then the Federation would come all the sooner.
Taking his leave of the chambers Aslan smiled, this was going to be interesting.
