Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation

India–Soviet Union relations

India	Soviet Union

The Indo–Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation was a treaty signed between

The treaty was caused by increasing

The developing situation alarmed India, which had uncomfortable relations with Pakistan. Since Pakistan also was near the Soviet Union, it also provided Moscow with the necessity and the opportunity to develop its relations with India, whose status as a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement would also allow the Soviets to bolster their policy in the Third World.

India and the Soviet Union, therefore, pursued similar policies based on common security threat born from the American interests in Pakistan. It was in that context that India and Soviet Union exchanged military attachés.^[4]

Although Indo-Soviet co-operation occurred, Soviet military aid to India was greatly increased during the context of deteriorating Sino-Soviet and Sino-Indian relations. The 1962 Sino-Indian War caused the Sino-Pakistani axis to be another impetus for the growing co-operation between India and the Soviet Union.^[4]

In 1965, Indo-Soviet relations had entered a very important phase that lasted until 1977. According to

The Indian government, under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, saw itself confronted with a major humanitarian catastrophe, as eight to ten million Bengalis fled from East Pakistan to overcrowded and underfunded refugee camps in India.^[9] Indira Gandhi decided in April that a war was needed to stop the exodus and enable Bengali refugees to return to their homes.^[10]

However, the Pakistani leadership was very well connected, as Yahya Khan had a close personal friendship with American President Richard Nixon and harboured excellent diplomatic relations with Mao's China.^[11]

The Soviets had proposed a treaty with India in February 1969. Gandhi had held off signing, but in 1971 agreed, in order to neutralize the United States and China. Neither would be likely to aid Pakistan militarily against India for fear of the conflict drawing in the Soviet Union and spreading.^[12] The ensuing Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, signed in August 1971, was very loose, but sent a strong signal to Washington and Beijing.^[13]

Eventually, since Nixon needed Brezhnev to end the Vietnam War, frictions between both superpowers were streamlined, which paved the way for the immensely important summit that was convened in Moscow in May 1972. The Soviet Union, now an Indian ally, also intervened in the civil war in Pakistan on behalf of India.^{[citation needed]}

After Cold War

References

Bibliography

• ISBN 978-0-307-70020-9
  .
• Cashman, G; Robinson, L.C (2007), An Introduction to the Causes of War: Patterns of Interstate Conflict from World War I to Iraq, Rowman & Littlefield,
  ISBN 978-0-7425-5510-5
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• Hanhimaki, Jussi M. (2004), The Flawed Architect: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy, Oxford University Press US,
  ISBN 0-19-517221-3
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• ISBN 978-1-61039-317-1
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• Rao, RVR Chandrashekhar (1973), "Indo-Soviet Economic Relations: Asian Survey, Vol. 13, No. 8. (Aug., 1973), pp. 793-801", Asian Survey, University of California Press,
  JSTOR 2642868
  .

• Menon, Rajan. "India and Russia." in David Malone et al. eds. The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy (2015) pp 509–521.

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Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation