In March 1972, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, president of Pakistan, visited the Soviet Union to help normalize formal relations between the two countries.
[1][2][3] Bhutto engaged in substantive discussions with Soviet leaders in Moscow, including meeting with Chairman Alexei Kosygin and Secretary-General Leonid Brezhnev.
[4][5] Even before being elected on a socialist platform in 1971, Bhutto had spoken of the necessity of independent foreign policy and stronger relations with the Soviet Union, which had been fractured during the direct war with India and the Indo-Soviet Treaty.
[8] The repercussions of Bhutto's visit were vast, including the ₨.4.5 billion worth of Pakistan Steel Mills established in Karachi, the Guddo Thermal Power Plant, and Pakistan's official departure from the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).
[10] Relations between the two countries would quickly sour after Bhutto was deposed and executed by the pro-American General Zia ul Haq, who aligned Pakistan with the US in support of the Afghan Mujahideen to resist the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979–1988.