During the Cold War,India was the Soviet Union’s most important third-world ally.Despite the fact that their political systems and ideologies are entirely different,bilateral connections have developed.The two nations signed a contract to form a military alliance in 1971.India received large-scale economic and military aid from the Soviet Union,while India gave diplomatic support to the Soviet Union.After 1988,however,the Soviet Union curtailed its economic aid to India and stopped militarily exporting large-scale high-end weaponry to India.In terms of diplomacy,the frequency of Soviet leaders visiting India decreased dramatically,and the two nations no longer backed one other unreservedly on international issues.The once-friendly Soviet-Indian relations progressively lost their impetus to expand further.Many factors contributed to the deterioration of ties between the Soviet Union and India in 1988.To begin with,in the mid and late 1980 s,the improvement of the American-Soviet and Sino-Soviet relations,helped to relieve the international situation.The Soviet Union did not need to continue winning over India to confront the United States and China and extend its sphere of influence.Second,Gorbachev reversed his predecessor’s foreign policy after taking power.His “new thinking” in foreign policy de-ideologized international relations,underlined the need of cooperating with the United States and the West,and turned the Soviet Union’s diplomatic attention to the West.Rajiv Gandhi intended to retain amicable ties with the Soviet Union while also developing contacts with the United States and developed European nations in order to preserve India’s great power position.He sought to gain innovative technology from Western nations that he couldn’t get in the Soviet Union to boost the core competitiveness.Friendly Soviet-Indian relations,on the other hand,have always been a stumbling block to the future growth of US-Indian relations.India-Soviet relations were compelled to take a back seat for his personal objectives.Since 1988,the Soviet-Indian relations have progressively lost impetus for further growth,and collaboration between the two nations in different sectors has drastically decreased,with significant consequences for the Soviet Union/Russia and India.The decline of military cooperation between the Soviet Union and India exacerbated the Soviet Union’s economic condition,since India’s arrears could not be paid in a timely manner,impeding the growth of the Soviet Union/Russia.India,on the other hand,started to explore a new economic growth model,re-examine its foreign policy,and place a premium on the development of ties with the United States as early as the first days of Ragandhi’s government.The frosty Soviet-Indian relations allowed India to modify its diplomatic relations as needed.The united struggle with China was an essential factor for the Soviet Union and India’s closeness in the 1960 s.As a result,the frosty bilateral ties aided China’s border security.Furthermore,the frosty Soviet-Indian ties have improved the situation in South Asia.India is beginning to settle problems via discussion rather than relying only on force to discourage its neighbors.Furthermore,the frosty Soviet-Indian ties facilitate the construction of a new international order and the continuation of the multi-polarization trend. |