ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the means by which the same set of circumstances shaped Pakistan's relations with other countries. Soviet troops entered Afghanistan to support the faltering socialist revolution they had encouraged. Their entry completely altered Pakistan's relations with Afghanistan. Once Pakistan had begun its proxy war in Afghanistan, it was anxious to keep peace with India. India planned to convert its triennial military exercise, code-named Brass Tacks, into an actual military action against Pakistan's Sindh and then follows it up with Trident, the operation to free Pakistani-held Kashmir. The border between India and Pakistan remained quiet for three years after the Brass Tacks episode, but tension returned in the spring of 1990. The Indian leaders greeted this change with enthusiasm, believing that it would be easier to work out an understanding with a democratic government than it had been with a military-led administration.
