عنوان

Indo-Soviet relations, 1959-1971

Number

TLets474244

Title Proper

Indo-Soviet relations, 1959-1971

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Surendar, Tiruchinapalli

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Glasgow

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

1978

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Thesis (Ph.D.)

Text preceding or following the note

1978

Text of Note

India and the dominant powers of the West have had no territorial disputes. They have much In common in their commitment to liberal Institutions and Individual rights. English plays a dominant role in Indians intellectual life; it Is the link language of India. Therefor, their relations should have, been cordial. But they were rarely so. Western global interests clashed with India's national Interests In the subcontinent. This clash of interests was taken advantage of by the Soviet Union, whose Interests also clashed with those of the West. to build friendly relations with Lidia, the thesis discusses Indo-Soviet relations vis-avis Soviet claims to ideological fidelity and argues that Ideology Is of secondary importance in Soviet foreign policy considerations. The very starting and ending points of the thesis belle such Soviet claims: In September. 1959, a few days after the first shooting occured on the Sino-Indian border, the Soviet news agency, Tass, issued a statement deolaring in effect. The neutrality of the Soviet Union1. Such a stand on a dispute involving a socialist and a bourgeois country hardly speaks for either ideological solidarity or proletarian Internationalism. In August, 1971, the Indo-Soviet treaty was signed. Evidence suggests that this was an Indo-Soviet reaction to Sino-American detente. Neither the Chinese action (rapprochement with capitalist America) nor the Soviet reaction was in the spirit of Marxism. Thesis discusses Indo-Soviet relations between 1959-1971. It discusses only political, economic and military relations. Cultural relations are not taken Into consideration because all the Soviet cultural offensive has not even mads a dent into the preponderant cultural Influence of the West (almost totally British). First in Pakistan and later in China, Indo-Soviet interests coincided. The resulted in Soviet support to India on issues involving her vital interests. The Soviet Union's diplomatic success In India is attributable to this support; conversely, the failure of Anglo-American diplomacy in India is due to lack of such support. Therefor, all these issues and the attitudes taken by both blocs to them receive exhaustive discussion in the thesis. The thesis is divided into eleven chapters; the first three give an historical insight into Indo-Soviet relations before 1939 the last eight discuss their relations between 1959-1971. Convergence of interests contributed to cordiality in Indo-Soviet relations, as evidence suggests. However, Interests between two political entitles need not necessarily coincide over a long period of time. The Soviet Union and India belong to two different categories t the former is a global power and the latter, a regional power. Sooner or later, Soviet global Interests are likely to clash with India's regional Interests. The cordiality that prevails in Indo-Soviet relations now is, among other things, an indirect result of policies pursued by the United States, China and Pakistan towards India. India is interested in improving her relations with these countries In order to have diplomatic manoeuvrability. There are already signs of thaw in the relations between 3hdia and these countries. If this happens, India's need of Soviet support will be less. Besides that, there are enough Institutional differences between India and the Soviet Union which have caused in the past and will cause in future irritations in their relations. As long as states need each other, such irritations are ignored; once their interests begin to diverge, even small issues can then become major problems. However, If Moscow takes a realistic view of an improvement in the relations between India and China and does not proceed to take retaliatory steps out of pique, Indo-Soviet relations can still be maintained on correct lines; otherwise, tensions are likely to appear in their relations.

Surendar, Tiruchinapalli

University of Glasgow

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y