The book is primarily an outgrowth of my thesis entitled contribution of Soviet trade to Indian economy (1953-74") which has been awarded Ph.D. Degree in Economics from the University of Calcutta. Although the period covered under the study was 1953 -74, it has been updated till 1990 with a postscript reviewing the historical changes that are taking place in Soviet Domestic and Foreign economic relations under "Perestroika" and the major changes that are taking place in India's internal and external economy.
At a more personal level, I like to put on record my deep gratitude to Professor Dhires Bhattacharya, formerly head of the department of Economics, Calcutta University for his unfailing in-spiration and invaluable guidance while writing the book. Need-less to say, I alone remain responsible for errors and views expressed.
I remain grateful to the authorities of ICSSR, New Delhi for the publication grant of the book. I also offer special thanks to Gian Publishing House, New Delhi, for publishing the book within a reasonable time frame. Finally, I would be failing in my duty if I do not mention the contribution of my wife, Mrs. Suchitra Ghosh who throughout the gestation period of the book gladly put up with my failure to attend to the family needs.
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of Indo-Soviet trade on Indian economic development during the time frame 1953-90. For this purpose, we divide the entire period into two important sub-periods (a) 1953-74 and (b) 1975-90. The former period occupies an important place in India's current economic history, since this period covers the first four five-year plans of the country. During this period, India had to pass through a period of stagnant export-earnings but rapidly increasing import requirements due to emphasis on the development of heavy industries. From the Soviet point of view also, this period is important because Soviet Bloc trade with the developing countries received a tremendous boost with its small and tentative post Stalinist beginning in 1955.
Prior to the Second World War, the Soviet Union considered herself the only citadel of Communism surrounded by a hostile capitalist world. Logically, her foreign policy was, therefore, primarily one of self-sufficiency and isolationism. The main role of Soviet foreign trade during the period was only to remedy the internal deficiencies in the country. After World War II, however, the situation became different. The Soviet Union, assuming the leadership role in the socialist camp embarked on competition with the Western capitalist world. Since the end of World War II, the volume of Soviet foreign trade has been growing at a rapid rate. It can be seen from Soviet trade statistics that from the 1950s Soviet trade has increased by about 50 per cent every five years. There has been a further acceleration in the more recent period, 1971-74. Table 1.1 shows the details of Soviet foreign trade during the entire period 1946-74. The share of the centrally planned economies in Soviet foreign trade started declining gradually from the late 1950s and correspondingly the shares of the advanced capitalist countries and the Third World in-creased significantly. Between 1960 and 1970, the share of the less developed capitalist countries in Soviet and East European ex-ports increased from 8.1 to 14.8 per cent, while in imports it increased from 8.8 to 11.1 percent.
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