The air in the meeting room at Zhongnanhai was thick with tension. Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, sat at the head of the table, surrounded by his most trusted advisors.
The room was dimly lit, the only source of light coming from a large map of Asia on the wall, which displayed the borders between China, India, and Nepal.
The recent failure of the East-West Swap deal had strained relations between China and India to the breaking point, and the military buildup in the region had escalated tensions further.
Now, new information had arrived that threatened to tip the balance even more.
General Zhang, a seasoned military strategist, stood beside the map, his expression serious. "Chairman Mao, we have received confirmed intelligence that the merger between Nepal and India is progressing. King Tribhuvan is on his way to India to finalize the agreement with Prime Minister Rohan Varma."
