Marcus Najir

Admiral of the Fleet **Marcus Arjun "Mark" Najir** (Born 14 July 1974) is the 1st Prime-Minister of the South Asian Union in office since 15 August 2021. Najir is the leader of the South Asian Socialist Party and was previously the 16th Prime Minister of India from 28 October 2018 to 15 August 2021. Before this he had been Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces after President Pranab Mukherjee got captured and Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari got killed, both at the hands of Chinese military forces in 2016 and before that Chief of Naval Staff from 2013 to 2016.

Najir is seen as one of the main leaders of World War 3 leading the Indian and later South Asian, military in its fight against the People's Republic of China and its allies, mainly Pakistan and Myanmar. Often seen at the front, even when head of state of the SAU, Najir is loved by soldiers, sailors and pilots for his courage, skill, bravery and charisma. Najir is often nicknamed the *South Asian Tiger* or *Defender of the Subcontinent*. His most important victory is considered to be the Second Battle of Delhi, where he managed to retake the old Indian capital in 2020, an event key in forming the South Asian Union a year later.

## Early Life and Early Career

Najir was born 14 July 1974 in Mumbai to Tushar Najir and Shashi Najir. His father, a famous historian, named his son Marcus because he had done extensive research into Marcus Aurelian . Najir grew up in a relatively prosperous family and at the age of 18 joined the Naval Acadamy to train to become an officer in the Indian Navy. Here he studied naval engineering and did extensive research in both army and navy strategies. At the age of 25 he had already made a name for himself by becoming the youngest Lieutenant Commander in Indian Navy history and by the time he was 29 he was the Commander of INS Shivaji (ex-USS Horne), the only cruiser in the Indian Navy.

## Rise in Ranks

In 2007 Najir was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and put in command of the newly formed Sthalarūjala Rūcara Tāska Phōrsa, or Amphibious Task Force. This was a surprising move as he skipped the rank of captain, several higher ranking officers threatened to quit only to be told that they had not shown as much talent as Najir had.

After 4 years in charge of the SRTP Najir was promoted to the position of Commander of the Western Fleet and promoted to Vice Admiral. Now a Vice Admiral, Najir used his new influence towards convincing the heads of the navy to invest heavily in new ships and to keep older ships in service for longer. He cited the danger China  and its ally Pakistan  were to the nation were to the nation and that China could send its fleet to Indian waters. This was one of the reasons for the Kolkata-Class destroyer order being doubled and production being sped up on the Vidya-Class Aircraft Carrier to make sure the first one would be ready by 2013.

## Chief of the Naval Staff and Start of WWIII

On 12 February 2013 Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma announced that he would be retiring after 43 years of service in June and on 28 March the president announced that Rear Admiral Markus Najir would be succeeding him. Najir himself was rather shocked, but steadfast. He was determined to lead to navy to a great future, but he also knew that this could mean his military carreer could be over after 3 years. He commissioned INS Vidya, ordered construction to be stepped up on INS Varuna and INS Vishnu, commissioned INS Visakhapatnam, ordered 5 additional Visakhapatnam Destroyers, ordered 2 additional Sampa-Class AAS and created the Fleet Revied Document, an annual review on the navy. In the Fleet Review Document 2013 Najir and his staff noted the small size of the navy compared to the rapidly growing Chinese Navy, already possessing over 120 destroyers and frigates and an unknown number of carriers, battleships, cruisers and submarines, and that if India was to remain in its place it would have to embark on its largest mission yet, construct a fleet that could defeat China's.

In May 2014 Najir was called to a meeting of the highest officials in India where they were informed by the Chief of Immortal Base Mumbai, Rajneesh Tulash, that war with the USSR and China was imminent. Immediatly the president appointed Najir as chief of the military board and ordered the 3 main branches to work closely together in this war. Najir secretly began work on a large amount of new ship designs, designing everything from supercarriers to fast and stealthy submarines. he also prepared a document to be handed out on the first day of the attack, announcing a massive naval expansion programme.