NEW DELHI: Pakistan's pro-US tilt is the direct result of its "fear of India," says one of the thousands of documents the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) released earlier this month.

"Pakistan's pro-Western orientation stems from her fear of India and USSR rather than any basic sympathy with capitalism or Christian civilisation. It is more negative than positive," an undated CIA document says. It adds that Pakistan at the time wasn't particularly pleased with the US.

"Pakistan is likely to continue basically pro-Western, despite annoyance at the US part in the UN handling of Kashmir and at the US position on North Africa in the UN", the document says.

A 1983 document also talks of Pakistan's obsession with India.

"Pakistan believes India has never accepted its independent existence and it wants to make it a weak buffer state under Indian hegemony. Islamabad is particularly concerned that India and the Soviets will cooperate to impose their demands on Pakistan," says the document from September 1983.

That same document talks of India's concerns about Pakistan-China closeness, US military assistance to Pakistan and interference in peace over the Indian Ocean - all concerns that hold good to this day, a whole 34 years later.

"India views Pakistan's strong ties with China with alarm and charges that Pakistan is using the Afghanistan crisis to strengthen itself against India. It opposes US weapons assistance to Pakistan and wants to maintain the Indian ocean area free of superpower rivalry," the 1983 document says.

As for India, a 1972 CIA document says the intelligence agency believed that Indians had a very real sense of "inferiority".

"In order to offset the fear that they really may be inferior, however, Indians are often so defensive - touchy and sensitive - that they appear to be offensive, that is assertive, vain, and arrogant," says the document. It then talks of India's "crushing victory over Pakistan" in the December 1971 war.

"National achievements, especially the crushing victory over Pakistan in December 1971 and the apparent ability to create a nuclear weapon, have tended to buoy self-confidence, but euphoria is transient and the feelings of national inferiority are deeply imbedded," the document says.

