A sequence of motorcades arrived at the front gates of the Royal Towers. One after another, they disgorged their passengers and pulled away. Each disembarking party was counted, inspected, searched for concealed weapons by the dress-uniformed members of Victoria's royal guard as they stepped through. Some of the visitors responded to the security with indignation, others almost welcomed it. Others still met the measures with passive acceptance.
But none questioned their necessity. "Dar es Salaam" meant 'place of peace', and everyone present wanted to keep it that way.
At least, outwardly.
ooc: wrote:The Republic of China and the Kingdom of Victoria have convened a series of high level diplomatic talks in the Victorian capital of Dar es Salaam for the purpose of preventing war between India and Tibet.
The RoC delegation has invited representatives from the following countries:
Tibet
Korea
Vietnam
The Victorian delegation has invited representatives of the KIngdom of India.
Proposed posting Order is as follows:
RoC
Victoria
Korea
NPNs
Khadija al Victoria, Crown Princess of Victoria, attended on behalf of her nation. She wore a mask of bone, carved in the image of a laughing face. A set of ram's horns curled out from beneath her hair, framing her the face of her mask. She wore the uniform of her military rank, that of a Victorian Colonel, to compliment this, along with her officer's sword, and was one of the few individuals to be armed in the room.
"Welcome to the Royal Towers," her voice echoed out of hidden speakers. "The Seraph Queen has entrusted me to oversee this meeting, and I know you won't disappoint me, or her, with your behaviour here. I'm quite certain that we will leave this room with a peace agreement, or not at all."
Korea's newly-appointed (and rapidly-greying) PAC representative, Carl Bellman, simply directed a flat stare at the Crown Princess, declining to comment.
The Tibetan ambassador Sherab had an aide distribute copies of a document to the attending parties. "Entailed within is evidence of Indian incursions within our border over the past month. The Indian military is deliberately provoking responses from our armed forces to justify a conflict between India and the Pan-Asian Council."
---
Princess Aahana Karamchand looked over the document with a neutral look to her face. She handed it to an aide soon after, who stepped back and began to take notes. "Tibet has accused India of intentionally seeking conflict. Arguments over who did and said what are immaterial at this point - I instead would like to pose a question to our hosts, who knows so well how the Kingdom works and has met with my own brother, now prince, multiple times, as well as the same question to the others present here. What does India gain from this conflict? My brother is a smart man, his own faults notwithstanding, he would surely inform Victoria of any plans to aggressively expand, especially against a Chinese ally. I run the foreign ministry, so I know full well that there has been no communication of that sort beyond India alerting Victoria that skirmishes were ongoing between the Royal Indian Army and Tibetan forces. India will admit it has caused the death of Tibetan soldiers, but only in self-defense. We must scrutinize the evidence Tibet presents, as well as any evidence that I am sure China, Korea and Vietnam are eager to see from my country."
Song Qingling had spent her entire life neck deep in the affairs of the great powers. She had spent nearly a decade at the very pinnacle of one of those powers. The geopolitical order of East Asia was the legacy of her premiership. She had built it to last, and she, of all people knew how important it was to maintain it.
So if some little girl who thought the intrigue of a second-rate power's royal court was the epitome of subterfuge was going to try and drive a wedge between China and the network of allies the Widow had built around it, then she would certainly have been better off waiting for Song Qingling to be resting as ashes in a stone jar before making her play.
Of course, she couldn't say that. The decencies had to be maintained.
"Your Highness is absolutely right, of course," she replied smoothly. "It is easy to assign blame, it is difficult to assign blame accurately. You have enumerated the reasons why you think the Royal House of India is not responsible for the acts which it has been accused of. Now, I do the same for Tibet."
She raised one delicately manicured finger, reduced to almost skin and bones by nearly a century of life.
"First, there is the fact that unlike India, Tibet has not been known to expand outside its current borders. It has, in fact, not done this since the 9th century, with the collapse of the Tibetan Empire."
A second finger.
"Secondly, the current border, as set by the Simla Agreement of 1914, was based on the locations of the highest line of mountain peaks between India and Tibet. Any manner of Tibetan expansion beyond that line would result in Lhasa being obliged to govern an area of entirely different culture and language, separated from the capital by the highest mountain range in the world, hardly rational."
A third finger.
"Thirdly, and-" she turned to the Tibetan envoy, "I hope you will pardon me for being so blunt, ambassador. India's military capabilities far outstrip Tibet's. And India has proven willing to use that superior capability against its neighbours before. Had Tibet possessed a full defensive alliance with the Republic, perhaps such an attempt to force a confrontation might have been thought of as a clever ploy, but the current articles of the MORALE agreement do carry such obligations."
She closed her fingers then, forming a fist.
"And lastly of all, perhaps most tellingly, when the Republic's government offered such an alliance through the Pan-Asian Council, The government of Tibet refused. Surely if Lhasa had intended to leverage the military power of the Republic and its allies into some sort of military confrontation with a more numerous and better armed neighbour, it would have accepted an offer which would have given it precisely what it wanted?"
She shook her head and turned back to the Indian Princess. "I believe you, your Highness. I do not think you, or your King have anything to do with this. But I also cannot deny that Tibet's actions have ensured that it would be at a fatal disadvantage in the case of the military confrontation it supposedly wants. This conflict does not make sense, and I suspect I know why."
She turned again, this time to address the room as a whole. "The Kingdom of India has been subject to this sort of manoeuvre before, when a bad actor attempted to frame it for clandestine operations in Bulgaria, of all places. This time around, perhaps they have grown more clever, and chosen a country which India actually borders. I suspect this is an attempt to set Guangdong and Dar Es Salaam in opposition to one another, by provoking a confrontation between two nations which they consider our proxies. They mean to divide us, to plunge the Eastern Hemisphere into a state of chaos again."
Her lips pulled into a taut line, her expression hardened into a mask of resolve. "I could think of many, many powers who could benefit from such a conflict, who would profit greatly if we turned against each other..."
"And none of those powers are represented in this room."
The Crown Princess turned her head toward each speaker in turn, then glanced down at the table. She hadn't looked at the evidence provided by the Tibetans, handing it off to one of her own aides instead. A soft noise came through the speakers of her mask, almost like static at first. Slowly it rose in volume until it was clear that she was laughing.
"Really? This. This is our great dilemma? Both of you want to talk about how the other is to blame, and our esteemed ally," she gestured to the Widow, "points out the sheet stupidity of it all. If you really don't want to fight, then order your forces to withdraw and disengage. Create a temporary DMZ, and we'll figure out how the fuck to police it so that the pissants who are trying to get us all fight can be found and burned. I mean, really," she laughed again, "unless one of us here really is spoiling for a fight, there's nothing to be solved except how best to find and murder the stupid shits who think they can manipulate us."
Bellman leaned forwards. "I should imagine, then, that we should turn our attentions to that DMZ. Perhaps PAC elements enforcing the Tibetan side, and Victorian elements, the Indian lines? As I imagine it far less likely any... hotheadedness or over-eager young soldiers will cause an incident, if faced with their own allies patrolling the border."
"Indian troops occupied a Tibetan town for three hours and effectively looted it. If this isn't a clear declaration of hostility, if not war, then I'm unsure what will prompt real action from the Council to defend an ally. At the minimum, my government requires compensation and for Indian troops to permanently disarm in the region. Even now the Indian state is moving scores of military equipment and soldiers to the border; is that not a clear threat?"
---
"Only moving because of aggressive Tibetan actions and in support of our allies in Victoria," Princess Karamchand replied. "India has no desire for war, and so is in favor of creating a temporary demilitarized zone if that is what is required for peace."
The Widow fixed the Tibetan envoy with a stern look, not quite a glare. The sort of expression a mother gave a child when it had been thus far indulged, and has now finally asked for one ice cream cone too many.
"If a demilitarised zone is established, in the manner which our Korean friend has suggested, then there will no longer be Indian troops on the border. Should India plan to attempt the aggression you believe they will, then they will have to go through the forces of three modern armies, including those of their own greatest ally. There can be no greater guarantee of protection."
She turned to address the rest of the room as well.
"As for these allegations that Indian troops occupied and looted a Tibetan town, and the evidence which has been presented to this effect, I believe this poses us several questions. If India meant to invade Tibet, it would have done so in full force. It would not have ransacked a single settlement and left. It would have done so after moving the bulk of its forces to the border. These are fundamental principles of military operations, even an old woman like me knows them."
She shook her head. "No, these are not the actions of country looking to expand at the expense of its neighbour. These are actions which seem to tailor-made to allow a small group of individuals to provoke a conflict between two countries that do not want it." She swept her gaze across the room. "Someone wants us at war with each other. And I propose that in addition to a DMZ, we conduct a joint investigation to find out who."
