Indo-Soviet Military Cooperation: A Review

Abstract

ARMS ON THE Indian subcontinent are required primarily for security reasons. Despite persuasive arguments to the contrary, the weapons procured by Pakistan and India have been utilized almost exclusively against each other. The situation has been exacerbated by the opposing strategic ambitions of the two superpowers and China in the region. Arms supply patterns, therefore, were established through the interaction of conflicting regional and international forces. The broad pattern of arms supplies to Pakistan and India needs brief description. The U.K., not surprisingly, was the earliest supplier of arms to the two countries and the weapons held by their armed forces at the time of independence in 1947 were of British origin. After 1954, Pakistan started obtaining military assistance from the United States under a Mutual Aid Treaty. India continued to procure military equipment from Britain and to some extent France, until the SinoIndian border conflict in 1962. Thereafter, military cooperation with the Soviet Union was established. After the Indo-Pak war in 1965 a Western arms embargo was imposed against Pakistan and India. Lacking indigenous defense production facilities, Pakistan was the more seriously affected. It turned towards France and later, more conspicuously, towards China. India was relatively better placed because of its growing defense production base. Military assistance from the Soviet Union continued, however, becoming very significant over the years. There is an important difference between governmental perceptions of external arms supplies in Pakistan and India. Pakistan has preferred arms imports, and it is only recently that the Pakistani elite has become conscious of the political liabilities attached to foreign military