It's good to know the history here. For most of 50s and 60s we were roughly equidistant between US and USSR. It was the crass support for Pakistan's Ayub Khan by Nixon and Kissinger before the Bangladesh war in 1971, which forced India to shift a little closer to the Soviet Union. Both Nixon and Kissinger had a visceral hatred of India and Indira Gandhi - see [1].
The USSR did help us with arms and with votes in the United Nations. While this was generally helpful, it led to a shameful episode when India chose to tacitly support the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan. It may surprise many Indians to know that more recently, inspite of our tilt to the West, we have supported Russia's annexation of Crimea, and we were one of the first major countries to recognize the annexation.
The USSR did help us with arms and with votes in the United Nations. While this was generally helpful, it led to a shameful episode when India chose to tacitly support the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan. It may surprise many Indians to know that more recently, inspite of our tilt to the West, we have supported Russia's annexation of Crimea, and we were one of the first major countries to recognize the annexation.
[1] https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/indira-gandhi-is-...