16

Gandhi's funeral had just ended.

The state of his body was... really bad. I felt guilty just looking at him.

But, what's done is done now.

The messenger of Khan of Balochistan came, asking for help against the remnants of Pakistani army.

Another war...

I asked Cariappa if we can afford another war.

"It will cost us a lot."

"But will we lose?"

"Nah. We'd win."

...Did he have to say it like that?

Integrating Balochistan will be very good. We would have direct border with Iran, get the Gwadar Port, though it is currently under Oman.

It also has natural gas and many minerals, though I don't know if there is oil.

"What do you think?"

I asked R.N. Kao, whom I brought from IB as an advisor. He will be the one responsible for establishment of India's intelligence agency.

"British are definitely involved. And probably USA too. If it isn't handled carefully, things can become messy."

USA currently provides the food aid to us. It had stopped some shipments during the war, stating food shortage for nationalists in Chinese Civil War.

Though indirect, it is their way of saying that we can make India suffer badly.

Moreover, the food inflation has rised a lot due to war.

Additionally, it is a mountainous region. If the Balochs guiding our army betray us, which there is a very high chance of, the losses will be immense.

Should we wait for Pakistani army to turn Balochs against them through their actions, and then get it? That will make Balochistan integrate better.

...No. Waiting will turn things only worse. Since UK and USA are probably involved, they will turn the people into extremists to cause trouble for India.

I agreed to meet with Balochistan's messenger.

"Muhammad ji, unless Balochistan signs the instrument if acession to India, we can't afford to do anything. We are not in a good position ourselves right now."

"Then what will be the difference between joining India or getting taken over by remnants of Pakistani army?"

"There will be democracy, the rulers of Balochistan wouldn't get murdered, and the Baloch people will not suffer."

He seemed hesitant.

"Balochistan was a protectorate of British India. We agree to let India handle military and foreign affairs, but we need to be able to govern ourselves in other matters."

A condition like Article 370? Not a chance.

"No. We have our people starving due to war. USA is involved, and it can stop its food aid. If Balochistan can't become fully part of India, we can't afford to take the risk.

Balochistan will, of course, by a state of India. It will have its own state government and everything just like any other state. But Indian laws will apply on it."

Meaning, no Sharia or any different communal laws. No not allowing people from other states to buy land.

So, negotiations broke down.

When the Khan's life is in danger, he will agree to it.

Still, we need to start preparing.

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The most important thing is food right now.

Ideally, I would have had the time of establishing natural fertilizer and manure system, and used organic farming to ensure that the future fertility of soil doesn't get affected.

But, we need food security right now.

So, green revolution is necessary.

But, instead of rice, which takes a lot of water, millets will be better.

And wheat is the main produce of USA, so it should agree on the joint research.

Wheat and Milltets huh.

I called the Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri.

In my previous world, aside from giving back Lahore to Pakistan in 1965 war, he was the best ever prime minister of India. Under him, we had green and white revolution.

Sadly, he got assassinated in Tashkent, USSR during the post-war talks that USSR was mediating. And there was no post-mortem done, despite his family saying that his body had turned unusual.

It was most probably CIA trying to turn India against USSR. But Indira Gandhi was somehow involved because she didn't allow the post-mortem of the second PM of India.

...I should create some regulations that must be followed.

And I will just keep fast in foreign countries.

"Shastri ji, please contact USA's agriculture department and request joint-"

Wait...

What if USA assassinates our agricultural scientists? Just like Homi Bhabha and a lot of other scientists?

Even though they might not do it during a joint research to not let themselves getting suspected, they might do it later and blame USSR.

I talked about this with Shastri ji.

"I think it's better to have USA help us. If you are suspicious that they might try to assassinate our scientists, we can use the time it will give us when USA will try not to get suspected, and develop our forces to protect the scientists.

If their lives are at risk either way, we need to get time and benefit from USA during the meantime."

I nodded.

"Then assemble some expert farmers and agricultural scientists, and contact USA's agricultural department for a joint research. Tell them the benefits of millets as well. This way, they will look at it as more than just a humanitarian cause."

"Understood."

I then told RN Kao to form a Scientist Defence Squad to protect our scientists, both from assassination and honey traps.

It is time for India to enter the nuclear race. So, I headed to Bengaluru.

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