Arrival in USA

(31st January 1951)

(Washington DC, USA)

In Washington, UK's queen Elizabeth and PM Churchill have already arrived two days before.

And they weren't exactly as welcome as they normally would have been.

USA has been experiencing faster economic growth, and cheaper goods for a while, although some decrease in the rate of employment due to shifting of some manufacturing to India.

But UK's actions were viewed by the general public to push India into Soviet block. It was reported that the talks of crude oil and natural gas pipelines connecting India and USSR have gained huge traction, and the talks between India, Afghanistan and USSR have started regarding the planning.

US has already started planning to disturb Afghanistan so that the pipeline can't go through it, and Iran alternatively.

If a pipeline goes directly from Iran to India, it wouldn't matter.

Satyankar's plane landed in the airport, and US President Truman himself went to receive him.

In contrast to the UK trip, no dog was brought, only DD network, All India Radio, and Global Times, a government newspaper personnel were brought and even the bodyguards were in black suit and black glasses instead of the army clothes.

"Welcome to USA, PM Satyankar!"

"Hahaha! Thanks for receiving me."

Satyankar namaste'd, laughed along Truman, and then, they hugged.

10 Billionaire S1 cars came out, and Satyankar was going to sit in one as one of the US diplomat sat in one of the cars for direction.

He didn't hide in which car he sat, displaying a huge level of trust in USA to keep him safe.

"Truman ji! Why don't you ride with me? Let's have a chat on the way."

"Sure."

Truman agreed, because he was curious about the car. It had too different design from the concurrent cars, and looked really futuristic.

It has become famous when it was revealed during the UK trip, and this model was launched for a limited 10 fleets. He will be getting his fleet by 31st March, and even Stalin has placed an order, despite him using only Soviet cars.

As Truman sat with Satyankar, he felt that the seat quality wasn't much different from Rolce Royce. But it had a sheepskin cover that was much softer than anything he had sat on. And it was quite warm, perfect for the harsh winter.

"By the way, who designed this car? It's quite different any car in the world."

"I did the styling and general design. The people in the company adjusted the design according to the needs of the car. It is the safest car on earth right now.

You can pull the seatbelt, yeah, like that. When sudden breaks are applied, you fall forward due to inertia. This prevents that."

As Truman applied the seatbelt, by imitating Satyankar, he found this to be a good idea.

"They are a little different from planes. Anyway, doesn't India drive on the left like the British?"

"We changed that. No need to follow British rules. Moreover, the world is majorly right sided."

"Agreed."

Truman's gaze went to the back of the seat, where all kinds of medical equipments were present.

And it also had the one-way glass.

Somehow, Truman felt jealous that even his car didn't have so much safety measures. It wasn't like they couldn't be installed. It's just that they just weren't installed.

The cars started at the same time, and the fleet was headed towards the White House.

Several people on the roadside were waving US and Indian flags to show a warm welcome.

"That's quite a welcome."

"We welcome our guests warmly, unlike someone."

Truman took a jibe at UK, and Satyankar laughed.

Satyankar opened the window a bit, and waved at the crowd, appreciating the welcome. Truman also did the same.

This was to send a message. Despite sour relations between UK and India, the relations between India and USA are strong.

After a while, they both shut the windows due to security concerns, and the fleet started mixing up to confuse any attacker.

"Mr Satyankar, no matter how things turn out between UK and India, the relationship between USA and India will remain good, right?"

"Of course. We expect to be able to have good relationship with USA, USSR and China at the same time. So we can't be hypocrites by criticising any country for having a close relationship with UK. We are independent countries afterall.

To avoid wars, its best to be everyone's friend. There are some exceptions, like UK, and other inhumane countries like Nazi Germany that may pop up later down the line."

"But doesn't being everyone's friend project lack of sincerity?"

"Truman ji, I believe that everyone across the world, are very similar despite the artificial borders we have created. We are just limited in understanding of each other, and peace can't be achieved without interaction with an open mind. But as we are very limited in how our mentality is shaped by the environment, conflicts exist. And of course, both sides in any relationship need to be sincere.

And, it's not like we are going to support any side militarily anyway. Military is for self-defence, and peace. Majority of the time, as deterrents."

"Hmm."

This made it clear that India wouldn't be able to receive the latest military equipments easily. And it was fine. If USA and USSR can make weapons on their own, India can too. Especially with such a huge hardworking population.

It's just that in original timeline, peaceful Congress didn't get the basic thing that weapons are necessary for peace. India wasted time for China to make nuclear bomb before realising the need for the bomb.

When there's a will, there's a way.

Of course, this doesn't mean that regular imports of weapons will stop.

"By the way, I read Sambhar. It's just too good!"

"Really!?"

Along rest of the way, the two talked about Sambhar.

Truman's favourite character was Pain. Quite ironic for a US President.