Foreign relations of Pakistan
Pakistan was a member of the American-sponsored CENTO and SEATO military alliances. Pakistans' alliance with the United States was especially close after the Soviets invaded the neighboring country of Afghanistan. In 1964, Pakistan signed the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) Pact with Turkey and Iran, when all three countries were closely allied with the U.S., and as neighbors of the Soviet Union, wary of perceived Soviet expansionism. To this day, Pakistan has had a close relationship with Turkey. RCD became defunct after the Iranian Revolution, and a Pakistani-Turkish initiative led to the founding of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in 1985. For several years, Pakistan's relations with the Republic of India had been gradually improving, which opened up Pakistan's foreign policy to issues beyond security.