For those unaware, Goa refers to a Portuguese possession on the coast of India from 1505 onwards. Its population converted to Christianity as a result of Portuguese colonialism. After India became independent in 1947, they demanded that Portugal turn over Goa to them, but Portugal (then under a very anti-decolonial regime) refused and told them to fuck off. Eventually in 1961 India just invaded and conquered Goa using force. The territories are now the Indian state of Goa and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (actually the full name of the territory).
With this in mind, how could Goa become fully independent at some point after 1945? I'm talking about being part of neither India, nor Portugal, but being a fully independent state. While I'm not sure exactly on how to do this, two things strike me as necessary pre-conditions.
First off, the more united India is, the lower Goa's chances are of not being gobbled up. In fact, OTL!Goa bordered only India over land, which makes it really difficult for the territory to not be conquered. That's where my first remedy comes in: Dravida Nadu. Assuming this movement gets their way and a separate Dravidian state emerges in South India, Goa has a lot more breathing room already. First off, Goa would border both India/Bharat and Dravida, as Goa borders Karnataka and Karnataka would almost certainly be part of Dravida. Secondly, it becomes a bit more difficult to insist that Goa should be turned over, since who should get it? India or Dravida?
Another prerequisite we would need is for joining India to be undesirable to Goa. Essentially, we need to ensure that even if a referendum took place, the Goans wouldn't vote to join India in the end. Goa would need to somehow be better off on its own (or as part of Portugal for a little longer) than within India. I've thought of some potential means to accomplish this. Perhaps India would be dominated by staunch Hindu nationalists rather than the INC, leading to Goa refusing entry into India out of fear that their unique Catholic identity, culture and beliefs would come under attack. Another idea I had was for India to go communist, which would certainly make the US and UK hell-bent on keeping Goa as part of Portugal, but the issue is that I have no slightest clue how to plausibly get India to become communist.
With all this said, I have decided to consult the board:
With this in mind, how could Goa become fully independent at some point after 1945? I'm talking about being part of neither India, nor Portugal, but being a fully independent state. While I'm not sure exactly on how to do this, two things strike me as necessary pre-conditions.
First off, the more united India is, the lower Goa's chances are of not being gobbled up. In fact, OTL!Goa bordered only India over land, which makes it really difficult for the territory to not be conquered. That's where my first remedy comes in: Dravida Nadu. Assuming this movement gets their way and a separate Dravidian state emerges in South India, Goa has a lot more breathing room already. First off, Goa would border both India/Bharat and Dravida, as Goa borders Karnataka and Karnataka would almost certainly be part of Dravida. Secondly, it becomes a bit more difficult to insist that Goa should be turned over, since who should get it? India or Dravida?
Another prerequisite we would need is for joining India to be undesirable to Goa. Essentially, we need to ensure that even if a referendum took place, the Goans wouldn't vote to join India in the end. Goa would need to somehow be better off on its own (or as part of Portugal for a little longer) than within India. I've thought of some potential means to accomplish this. Perhaps India would be dominated by staunch Hindu nationalists rather than the INC, leading to Goa refusing entry into India out of fear that their unique Catholic identity, culture and beliefs would come under attack. Another idea I had was for India to go communist, which would certainly make the US and UK hell-bent on keeping Goa as part of Portugal, but the issue is that I have no slightest clue how to plausibly get India to become communist.
With all this said, I have decided to consult the board:
- Joining India needs to be undesirable for Goa in such a way that the international community wouldn't mind if Portugal held on to the territory for longer. But how?
- Am I on the right track about disuniting India (in this case with Dravida Nadu) being a good way to keep Goa outside of India?
- Perhaps the biggest issue here: Goa is realistically not going to become independent until 1975. IOTL, it was conquered in 1961. This means that Goa somehow needs to avoid Indian annexation until 1961 and then for an additional 14 years without India deciding to steamroll in anyway.
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