Indo-Soviet relations and cultural diplomacy during the premiership of Indira Gandhi

The presented thesis aims to fill in the gap of in-depth studies on Indo-Soviet relations as a whole, taking into account political as well as cultural aspects of this unusual and dynamic friendship. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India and the face of socialists of the Congress, had initiated the collaboration with the USSR as diplomatic relations between the two countries had been established a few months before the official proclamation of independence of India. The apex of the relations was reached during Indira Gandhi’s premiership (1966-1977; 1980-1984) due to the peculiarities of Indian domestic politics and the geopolitical circumstances, which created the favourable conditions for even closer ties between the two countries and bolstered assertiveness of India as a regional power. Indo-Soviet relations are researched against the backdrop of the Cold War and Indian history, using physical and electronic documents retrieved from Indian, American, Russian, Lithuanian and Chinese archives, newspapers, magazines and monographs.