Pakistan–Soviet Union relations

Pakistan and the Soviet Union had complex and tense relations. During the Cold War (1947–1991), 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.

The Soviets had opposed the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan. However, after Pakistan was established, 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 détente 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 (ISI) 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 minister Benazir Bhutto and then 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.