♤ India attached much significance to autonomy in international matters.

♤ Circumstance in the late 1960’s, As Sino-Soviet rift deepened, the US gravitated towards China and the USSR towards India. This was perceived to be the beginning of India’s tilt towards the USSR, a process the gained momentum in the early 1970s.

♤ At the strategic level, the Soviet Union afforded India crucial protection against regional adversaries. In 1971 New Delhi and Moscow signed a treaty of “peace, friendship, and cooperation” under which the two parties promised to aid one another in the event of a perceived military threat.