How India's 1971 Soviet Friendship Treaty Countered US and Pakistani Pressure

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to meet Russian President Putin in Kyrgyzstan, prompting reflection on a landmark India-Soviet treaty signed over 50 years ago. The 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation proved pivotal during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The pact provided India with crucial diplomatic and military backing at a time when Pakistan posed a serious military threat. The treaty also helped deter the United States, which had deployed its Seventh Fleet in the Bay of Bengal in a show of support for Pakistan. The historic agreement is widely credited with giving India the strategic cover it needed to intervene decisively in the 1971 conflict.
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