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Diplomatic relations between India and the Soviet Union was established on April 13, 1947. The USSR supported the Indian policy of non-alignment, which coincided with the Soviet strategy intended to constrain US influence in the Afro-Asian region. Particularly this influence was expressed through the attraction of Pakistan to CENTO and CEATO military alliances sponsored by the USA, and American economic assistance programs offered to India.
Confrontation with Islamabad was always the major issue in New Delhi's foreign policy. America signed a military alliance with Pakistan in 1954 when Jawaharlal Nehru refused to cooperate with the USA. The Indian government was forced to expand contacts with China and the USSR. Indo-Soviet relations got noticeably stronger after an exchange of visits of the heads of the two states in 1955. "Shout for us across the Himalayas whenever you need us" – this saying of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, addressed to the Indian government, best characterizes the attitudes between the two countries during this period.
As the Indian historians claim, the USSR helped "in advance", earlier than leaders of New-Delhi had time to shout, or even to realize, that it was necessary to shout. The Soviet leadership supported India in the Security Council of the United Nations on every issue – the position on Goa, or on the states of Jammu and Kashmir. Due to Soviet support, Indian prestige on the international scene strengthened noticeably, turning the country into a leader of the Non- aligned states and an active participant in the peace-making actions of the United Nations.
The USA also assisted in pushing India closer to the USSR, first by its indifference towards New Delhi, and then by choosing India's archrival as an ally.
Largely, that became a reason why Indo-Soviet relations concentrated mostly on cooperation and on transfer of military equipment and technologies.
The first peak of Soviet weapons deliveries to India came during the border conflict of 1962 between China and India. However, at that time Khrushchev was not interested in escalation between New Delhi and Beijing. China had not yet started to compete with the USSR, and the Soviet leader aspired to create a triple alliance to counterbalance United States.
Also the Soviet Union laid an emphasis on the development of Indian heavy industry, focusing on military production.
After its easy defeat by China in 1962, India made costly and strenuous efforts to improve its army. Striving not to fall under full dependence on the USSR, the Indian government tried to find western suppliers of weaponry. But in vain - Great Britain offered only a limited assortment, and the Americans put forward a huge list of required policy changes unacceptable to the Hindus. In 1965 and in 1971, during the second and third Indo-Pakistan campaigns, the scale of deliveries of the Soviet weapons to India increased sharply.
Consequently, in 1971 the Indian army surpassed Pakistan by more than twice the quantity of military equipment. The most effective weapons of this war were Soviet planes Su-7 and MiG-21. Furthermore, besides military deliveries, the Soviet Pacific fleet came to the Bay of Bengal to parry the American 7-th fleet, which arrived there to support Pakistan. Owing to Soviet help, India was able to prevail quickly over her enemy. A Tendency was created during this time in which the Indian army and the military-industrial complex were critically dependent on Soviet and Russian models of arms and equipment. Nearly 80 percent of all Indian military gear were purchased from Soviet Union - Russia or created on the basis of their technology.
In August 1971, strategic cooperation between the parties reached its peak with the signing of the "Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation", which incorporated serious security articles. Both parties declared their willingness not to participate in any activity harming the interests of the other.
In 1975 and 1979 the USSR promoted development of Indian space research, assisting in launches of the first Indian satellites. And in 1984 the first Hindu astronaut flew into space on board of Soviet spacecraft "SOUZ".
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the beginning of the 80-s brought a certain cooling off in the relations between the two states. New Delhi realized that the invasion triggered massive deliveries of American weapons to Pakistan, reviving an arms race in the region.
America committed $3.2 billion in arms (including F-16 fighters) and economic aid to Islamabad. India was compelled to keep military pace with Pakistan, requiring weapons from the USSR, thus increasing dependency on the Soviet Union. In May 1980, India signed a $1.6 billion arms agreement with the USSR (at concessionary terms of a 2.5 percent interest rate). As part of this deal, India received MiG-23s and a reconnaissance version of the MiG-25. India paid for this not only in cash, but also was bound to establish diplomatic relations with the pro-Soviet Vietnam-installed Cambodian government of Heng Samrin.
Several western sources (Richard F. Staar, Foreign Policies of the Soviet Union) claim that in 1981 another huge arms deal, totaling $2.5 billion was signed secretly, but there is no confirmation of that from open Soviet - Russian sources.
These deals proved to be a heavy burden for the Indian economy, and became one of the reasons that India applied for a $5.65 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, the largest request to that date.
Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandy, during her third term in the office decided to "westernize" slightly the policy of the state, and tried again to find other suppliers of weapons. But again, there was no alternative to the USSR.
Between 1983 and 1987 the Soviet Union delivered $7.6 billion worth of weapons to the country. In 1984 Soviet defense minister Dmitriy Ustinov visited New Delhi, offering modern military equipment.
In total, from 1960 till 2000, the USSR – Russia supplied India with almost $35 billion worth of military equipment. The USSR did not demand immediate payment for the majority of these deliveries, and "saved" arrears as another means of pressure upon the Indian authorities. When the USSR collapsed, New Delhi's debt to Moscow was estimated at from $12 up to $16 billion (including interest).

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