[War] UK/India: "A Friendly Greeting"

[Michael Downey]

"A Friendly Greeting"
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Clive Hollstadt, United Kingdom
President Ashwini Kanchwala, Republic of India
20 July 2006
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

<New Dehli>

Secretary Hollstadt had never been to India, a sorry thing for a
British diplomat to say, and was
quite unprepared for the blistering Eastern heat that blanketed the
country.

To the public, Hollstadt was here on a routine diplomatic visit with a
new international leader.
But the truth of the matter that most people suspected was that he had
a second mission, to test
what kind of man Kanchwala was. Indian democracy was known to be
shaky, and Hollstadt was going
to find out of Kanchwala was the real deal.

Meanwhile, Ashwin watched the car pull up, and the British Secretary
of Foreign Affairs step out,
along with a few aides.  Ashwin had been advised that part of
Hollstadt's mission would likely be
to try and see what direction things were going around here, and in
particular in what direction
Ashwin was likely to push them, with his newly widened powers.

He shook his head, wondering what Hollstadt would find.  To himself,
though the little engine of
ambition forbidden him from making little of this new arrangement,
Ashwin had never asked for
this, and would have been happy in the old Presidential role.  In
fact, depending upon how next
week's election turned out, his role might be eeriely similar to the
role of past Presidents, if
he was confronted with a Parliament that wasn't very cooperative.

Ashwin felt a tug on his arm, and snapped out of his brief line of
thought to look down at Bidya,
who was standing beside him.  He smiled briefly at her until her
slight motion of her head in a
direction down the steps reminded him of what was going on.  Ashwin
looked down at Hollstadt, who
was coming up the steps towards him.  Kicking himself for forgetting
for a moment what he was
doing, he started down to meet the Secretary half-way.  Or at least a
third of the way at this
point.

Hollstadt found it odd that Aswhin would have a absent minded moment.
Years of work with the Foreign Office had given the Secretary the
ability to read people like that. Perhaps it was the Indian leader's
new position. To become the ruler of your country, with a new found
base of power, was probably a heavy burden to bear.

"President Kanchwala," said Hollstadt, offering his hand. Though
Hollstadt spoke no Hindi, he could guess that Aswhin's Cambridge
education gave him a masterful grasp of English. "Thank you for
meeting me. Her Majesty gives her regards, and wishes to express her
condolences for the recent deaths in the terror attacks."

"Foreign Secretary Hollstadt," Ashwin said, in English that was a mix
of what you might find in
Mumbai, in Cambridge, and in Chicago, taking his hand.  "Thank you for
conveying Her Majesty's
regards and condolences.  The people of India are, as always, grateful.

"This is my wife, Bidya," Ashwin said, turning slightly to do the
introduction.  Ashwin then tried
a small jest.  "She's been kind enough throughout our marriage to
follow me around since we met at
Cambridge."

"But let's get out of this heat and into someplace cooler," Ashwin
said, gesturing towards the
entrance of the Presidential palace.  Ashwin remembered how much
northern Europeans and Americans
loved the heat, whether it be the heat of India or Arabia.  During his
own stints of foreign
service, in addition to his education, he had observed this first hand.

"I hope your trip was comfortable," Ashwin said, walking into the
Rashtrapati Bhavan next to the
Foreign Secretary and heading towards his office.  The British had
built and used the palace
during their reign over India, and various portions of the building
showed it.

"As only an Airbus can provide," remarked Hollstadt. "Prime Minister
Eckley has instructed MI6 to provide whatever information on the
bombings to your security services as we receive it. But to be honest,
this really took us by surprise. Have you any leads as to who might be
responsible?"

"Your country's help is appreciated," Ashwin said, shaking his head.
"Unfortunately, much of the
evidence is still vague.  Of course, there is no small number of
conceivable suspects, and
Pakistan-based groups figure significantly on that list.  But we are
still looking, and we'll keep
looking until we get our answers."

"And as I have said, the Kingdom stands behind you on this matter. But
there is something that we would like you to help us with." Hollstadt
paused for a moment, for effect. "India is a respected and influential
Eurasian power. You maintain relatively strong economic and diplomatic
ties both to Israel and many members of the Arab League. The Prime
Minister's government would be very grateful if India were to add its
voice to our own in the calls for a cease-fire."

"I think I'll leave you two to chat," Bidya interjected at this point,
sensing the business was
about to become a bit heavier.  Ashwin leaned towards her to let her
kiss him on the cheek.

"Be careful not to get lost," Ashwin teased.  A minute later, after
she had gone a ways, he turned
to Hollstadt and gestured that they could keep going now.

"We have been considering our response to the crisis," Ashwin admitted
after a moment of thought.
"We certainly want to call on the parties to back down somewhat.  Of
course, the issue of the
missing soldiers is difficult, and negotiation is the best way to
accomplish their return.
However, I am concerned that Israel, at least among the parties
involved, is also using the
occasion to settle scores with Hezbollah.

"It also doesn't help that Hezbollah has more or less free reign in
Lebanon due to the weakness of
the government there," Ashwin said, mulling over in his head what a
miserable situation it all
was.  "With that in mind, we have also been considering other
possible, complementary, courses of
action that we might be able to undertake.  Of course, given the
current political situation right
now, things are moving a bit slowly."

At this point, the pair had reached Ashwin's office, and the
conversation paused briefly as they
both sat down, seated across from each other.

"Would you like something to drink," Ashwin asked Hollstadt.

"Tea if you have it," replied Hollstadt. "Our concern is that Israel
does not /want/ a peaceful resolution. As you observed, they may see
this as an
opportunity to settle some sort of score with Hezbollah and eliminate
the threat once and for all. Some of our more concerned analysts fear
that Israel may annex some of the Southern portions of Lebanon under
the pretext of guarding their own Northern cities from any future
Hezbollah missiles or artillery attacks. And the last thing the Middle
East needs is more Arab land occupied by Israel.

"The point of the matter is that unless there is some sort of peaceful
resolution, this fiasco will create instability in the region for the
next ten years." He shook his head. "The Americans will veto any UN
resolution that calls for Israel to cease their armed campaign.
Meaning the only way to get the two sides to stop is convince them
directly. We've sent messages to the Israelis, and pleaded with the
Syrians to wrangle in Hezbollah. This is a situation where India's
respected position in the world will help us."

When the Foreign Minister had finished his statement, Ashwin picked up
the phone to arrange for
the tea, as well as a lemonade for himself.  This done, he gathered
his thoughts.  He didn't
really believe Israel would go so far as to annex or occupy in any kind
of permanent fashion any
part of Lebanon.  For one thing, one of the keenest threats to Israel
was the slow one of
demographics.  The Palestinians were simply out-reproducing the
Israelis.  To add more territory
with nothing but Arabs in it wouldn't make much sense from that point
of view.

"India intends to make a call and effort to convince the parties to
back down," Ashwin said.  "At
the moment, my government is discussing the nuances of our approach.
All the little things which
I am sure you're aware must be agreed before a full diplomatic effort
can be made.  In the
meantime, perhaps you and I could arrange for a joint statement on the
matter, as a preliminary to
my government's full efforts, and whatever your government may be
planning."

At this time, indeed in good time, there was a knock on the door.
Ashwin got up and walked to the
door, where he took Hollstadt's tea and his own lemonade.  The aide
who had brought them closed
the door behind Ashwin, as Ashwin went and handed the tea to Hollstadt
before sitting down and
taking a sip of lemonade, then setting it down.

"I've always loved lemonade," Ashwin admitted.  "In any case, I have a
request, while we're on the
subject.  As I'm sure you're aware, there are many Indian nationals in
Lebanon.  My country would
greatly appreciate it if your government would allow Indian ships and
aircraft to use your bases
in Cyprus to evacuate those Indian nationals who wish to leave.  My
government may also offer our
assistance to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, given that they too have large
numbers of nationals in
danger."

Hollstadt nodded his head. "Of course. We are more than happy to lend
India the use of our facilities for the evacuation of your nationals,
as well as the Bangladeshi and Sri Lankans." He sipped at the tea
given to him by Ashwin. It was more sweet than what the Englishman was
used to, but was nevertheless quite pleasing.

"Please send my own and my nation's gratitude for your country's
assistance in this matter," Ashwin said.  "Was there anything else
you wished to discuss?"

"Not at the moment," said Hollstadt, standing and offering his hand.
"Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. President."
---

Actions:
1) India will be allowed to use British military bases in  Cyprus to
help evacuate their civilians from Lebanon
2) India and Britain will release a join statement calling for a
cease-fire in Lebanon. Statement is as follows:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and North Ireland and the
Republic of India call upon all parties to the conflict between the
State of Israel and the terrorists of Hezbollah to restrain from
further bloodshed, end the current military and terror campaigns
currently in progress, and otherwise let the region return to a
peaceful state at the earliest moment possible.  The nations of the
United Kingdom and India would also be pleased to see and greatly
welcome the safe return of all hostages held by the terrorists of
Hezbollah to the State of Israel.  Our two nations, those of the
United Kingdom and India, have looked on these events with great
sadness and look forward to a prompt end to the current violence.

Signed,
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Clive Hollstadt, United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland
President Ashwini Kanchwala, Republic of India