ABSTRACT
The Indian subcontinent, by virtue of its location and population, for many years has been a central arena of the great-power struggle for influence that characterized Asia in the wake of decolonization. Both the Soviet Union and the United States have experienced periodic advances and setbacks in South Asia over the years, but the underlying trend has seen a rise in the Soviet role relative to that of the United States. Soviet success is all the more remarkable in that its gains came about mainly since the mid-1950s. During the past twenty-five years the USSR has been forced to respond to a series of critical situations in South Asia, and the decisions it has made have determined its relations with and its impact on the subcontinent. South Asia occupies an intermediate position in the hierarchy of Soviet foreign policy priorities, below Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East but well above Southeast Asia or Latin America.
