Oops, forgot the actual point in the geostrategic analysis in the first paragraph: With Iran and India neutral-in-Soviet-favour and Afghanistan in their possession or at least firmly in their sphere of influence, the USSR would have effectively boxed in Pakistan, which has a blue-water port in the Indian Ocean.

The overall picture would not be dissimilar to the encirclement of China by US client states (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) during the Cold War, except that Pakistan would be in a much less favourable position than China on account of not being a great power in their own right.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.