Life in India during the Cold War

Both my parents grew up in India, a place that is not necessarily thought of when you think of the Cold War, and neither of my parents had personal experiences directly related to the Cold War. They said that this was because although India had actually allied with the USSR, the people of India were more focused on developing their country since they had just gained freedom in 1947. They were also more focused on the war with Pakistan than the war going on in the rest of the world. Consequently, the Cold War was not very relevant to their daily lives. But, my dad said that one of the most important effects the Cold War had on India and one of the things he remembers the most is India's development of nuclear weapons in 1974. This was a big deal for India since it made it the sixth nation to develop this technology and also increased its power in the world. But, it did also increase tensions with countries like the U.S., which surprisingly are not very prevalent today. While nuclear weapons are clearly not the best thing in the world, this development helped India to become the country it is today. Although it may still not be a global power, it does have way bigger role than it would have otherwise.