Pakistan–Soviet Union relations
and the Soviet Union had complex and tense relations. During the Cold War, Pakistan was a part of Western Bloc of the First World and an ally of the United States, which was opposed to the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc of the Second World.
Less than a year after Pakistan gained independence, in May 1948, both countries established relations and Soviet premier Joseph Stalin, in 1949, invited Pakistani prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan to visit Moscow, though Khan instead visited the United States in May 1950. Following Khan's assassination in 1951, relations remained strained as Pakistan joined the anti-communist alliances SEATO in 1954 and CENTO in 1955. In the aftermath of the 1958 Pakistani military coup, President Ayub Khan significantly improved relations with the United States. The 1960 U-2 incident was a flashpoint in Pakistan–Soviet relations, after which Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Peshawar. After Khrushchev's removal, Khan visited Moscow and negotiated peace with Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin. As a result, the Soviets remained neutral during the Second India–Pakistan War in 1965.
Khan's successor Yahya Khan, a pro-American president, presided over the Bangladesh Liberation War and the India–Pakistani War of 1971. The Soviets aided the Bengali nationalists and India against Pakistan. After the Pakistani defeat, leadership passed to the socialist Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who normalized relations with the Soviets. This resulted in Soviet assistance for construction of Pakistan Steel Mills and Guddu Thermal Power Station, and Pakistan's departure from SEATO and CENTO. The brief came to an end after the 1977 military coup by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. During the Soviet–Afghan War, Zia backed the Afghan mujahideen, funded by the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Pakistan Army, which fought a proxy war against the Soviet Army in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, in 1988, Zia was killed in an aircraft crash, alleged by many to be a Soviet-backed assassination.
After Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, the Soviets offered Pakistan to install a commercial nuclear power plant, though Pakistan's prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and later Nawaz Sharif showed little interest in aging Soviet technology. In December 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved and succeeded by the Russian Federation. Since then, Pakistan–Russia relations have been cooperative and friendly.
History
Democratic governments (1947–1958)
The Pakistan Movement believed in the two-nation theory and advocated for the division of British India into a Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India. Accordingly, Pakistan achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 14 August 1947. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and officials at Moscow did not send any congratulatory message to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder and governor-general of Pakistan. During the First Kashmir War against India, the Soviet Union remained neutral and gave a non-committal attitude. The Kashmir conflict was moved to the United Nations Security Council to settle the dispute between India and Pakistan. The was more acceptable to India, not by Pakistan, and initially influenced Moscow to vote in favor of India in 1947.During 1947–1953, Pakistan was a member of Non-Aligned Movement. It faced challenges of economic nature, foreign policy, internal unrest and constitutional crises. Initially, Pakistan waited to see if any nation was willing to help the country to re-build its massive military and economic aid, and leading bureaucrat at this time, Sir Firoz Ali Khan had revealed that:
In April 1948, at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Far East, Pakistan's foreign officers of Pakistan announced that "she would accept aid from any source", but the Soviets did not respond to that request. In 1948, Prime Minister Ali Khan made several attempts to the Soviet Union to establish relations, but the Soviets remained quiet. In April 1948, Foreign minister Sir Zafarullah Khan held talks with Deputy Foreign minister Andrei Gromyko, subjecting the diplomatic relation. During this time, Pakistan saw relations with the Soviet Union from the prism of relations with India just as these days it sees ties with the United States.
However, the policy was changed after Soviet Union witnessed two events particularly forcing them to respond to Pakistan when India decided to remain within the Commonwealth Nations, it was a clear sign that India was leaning towards the Western countries under the U.S. auspices. The second event was the Indian premier Jawaharlal Nehru's announcement to pay the state visit to the United States on May 7, 1949. To a reaction, Soviet Union extended an invitation to Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, in 1949 to visit Moscow, becoming the first Prime Minister from the Commonwealth of Nations to visit the communist country, but Soviet Union herself did not materialized the dates or the plans. Instead, Prime Minister Ali Khan went onto paid a state visit to United States, taking the largest diplomatic and military convey with him, a clear rebuff to Soviet Union. According to studies completed by Pakistan Institute of International Affairs, the real motives, goals and objectives, were to an economic and technical assistance. "There are important divergences of outlook between Pakistan, with its Islamic background, and the Soviet Union with its background of Marxism which is atheistic.... Pakistan had noticed the subservience which was forced upon the allies of the Soviet Union.... Furthermore, there was the question whether Russia could supply the aid, both material and technical, which Pakistan so urgently needed..." PIIA noted.
The relations suffered setback when members of Communist Party led by communist Faiz Ahmad Faiz, sponsored by Major-General Akbar Khan, hatched a coup d'état against Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1950. Soon, three years after, Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan was assassinated while campaigning for his electoral term. During 1954–58, the relations were strained and hostility against each other as time passes. In 1954, Pakistan became a member of SEATO and METO in 1955, which Soviet Union did not welcome, overtly opting the Pro-Indian policy and regarding the Kashmir as part of India. As a result of 1954–55 elections, Prime Minister Huseyn Suhrawardy, a left-wing Prime Minister, made deliberate attempts to improve relations. On March–April 1954, a delegation of the Soviet cultural troupe toured Pakistan and a festival of the Soviet films was held in Karachi. To reciprocate this, the Pakistan Government also sent a delegation to study the Soviet industrial and agricultural development In 1956, Soviet premier Nikolai Bulganin offered technical and scientific assistance to Prime Minister Suhrawardy for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, offering Soviet contribution after Suhrawardy submitted the plan to established the nuclear power against India. In 1958, Soviet Union agreed to give Pakistan aid in agriculture, economic, science, control of pest, flood control, desalination, soil erosion and technical assistance to Pakistan. In 1958, Pakistan and Soviet Union finally established an oil consortium, Pakistan Oilfields, and expressing interests in establishing the country's first steel mills.
Military presidencies (1958–1971)
In July 1957, Prime Minister Suhrawardy approved the leasing of the secret ISI installation, Peshawar Air Station, to CIA.After commencing the military coup d'état against President Iskander Mirza, Army Commander Ayub Khan visited the United States, further enhancing relations with the U.S. while at same time, trying establishing link with Soviet Union through Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.The U-2 incident worsened relations between the Soviet Union and Pakistan. General Khalid Mahmud Arif, former chief of army staff, wrote of the incident that, "Pakistan felt deceived because the U.S. had kept her in the dark about such clandestine spy operations launched from Pakistan’s territory".
The Soviet Union had been long associated with Pakistan to help built its technical industries and consortium since late 1950s. In 1950, Soviet Union and Pakistan established the multibillion-dollar worth Pakistan Oilfields. In 1969, the Pakistan Government employed "V/o Tyaz Promexport", a USSR technical consortium, for vertically integrated steel mills in Karachi, Sindh Province. In 1971, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto succeeded to bring full-scale Soviet investment in this project, and laid the foundations of the steel mills in 1972 with the help of Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union paid back its revenge on Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, emerged as the biggest supplier of military hardware to India. India on other hand, distanced from the Western countries, developed close relations with the Soviet Union. Soviet Union and India used the diplomacy, convincing the U.S. and Western powers to keep a ban on Pakistan's military and hardware. After the 1965 war, the arms race between India and Pakistan became even more asymmetric and India was outdistancing Pakistan by far. However, in 1968, Soviet Union and Pakistan made an arms deal.
In 1965, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto first paid a state visit to Moscow and brought a great achievement to resolve territorial and political difference between the two countries. On April 3, 1965, President Ayub Khan paid a first ever state visit to Moscow in a view to established a strong cultural relations with the people of the USSR. Publicly, President Ayub Khan thanked Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin, and quoted:"Soviet Union is our next door neighbor with which Pakistan had close friendly connections in the past." During this visit, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Andrei Gromyko signed the agreements in the field of trade, economic cooperation and cultural exchange.
As the result of President Khan's visit to the Soviet Union, both countries concluded another agreement for cultural exchanges that was signed on 5 June 1965. This agreement was on the basis of exchange the academicians, scholars, scientists, artists, sportsmen, and also the exchange of music records, radio and television programs. During the signing ceremony of this cultural agreement, S.K. Romonovsky, the Soviet Cultural Minister quoted that "many pacts between two countries would help towards better understanding among the people of Pakistan and the USSR." Finally, on 17 April 1968, Premier Kosygin paid a visit to Pakistan and was welcomed by President Ayub and the Pakistan's civil society members with cordial manner. During his visit Alexi Kosygin said: "that relations between Pakistan and the Soviet Union are very good indeed and we should want more and more to strengthen and better them."
The Soviet Premier's visit in April 1968 was the first of its kind state visit and was of outstanding significance. Kosygin agreed to the granting of aid for a steel mill, a nuclear power plant and also economic aid on a broad range of development projects. Quite importantly, the first Soviet-Pakistan arms deal was made in 1968, which caused protests from India. During the time of Kosygin's reception, renowned poet Hafeez Jullundhri, sang out a poem, comparing Kosygin's visit to the coming of the dawn, which would bring self-determination and justice to the Kashmiri people. Kosygin enjoyed the amusing poetry, but remained silent on this issue. Alexei Kosygin said: