When the PDRY celebrated the twentieth anniversary of its independence in November 1987, pride of place amongst the invited delegations was given to the representatives of the USSR, and the PDRY authorities were keen to emphasise their commitment and gratitude to the Soviet Union for all that it had contributed to the consolidation of the post-1967 regime. The alliance with the USSR was in many ways the most important component of the PDRY's foreign policy and, despite some tensions and disagreements in the relationship, there was no sign from 1969 onwards that any leadership in Aden had seriously contemplated major alterations in it. The USSR was essential for the security of the regime, and as a source of political and socio-economic guidance. On their side, the Soviet leaders were committed to the PDRY as the closest of their Arab allies and as one of the ‘states of socialist orientation’ that, together with Nicaragua, Mozambique, Angola and Ethiopia, were potentially socialist states. Soviet leaders and writers had their reservations about the policies pursued by the PDRY internally and were not above giving hints as to how they thought Aden should approach certain problems: this was evident enough in the speech of welcome made by Gorbachev to YSP Secretary-General ˓Alī al-Bīḍ when the latter visited Moscow in February 1987. Nonetheless, the USSR had made a longterm commitment to the regime in South Yemen that neither pressure from the west nor the internal conflicts of the PDRY itself were sufficient to interrupt.

The NF's decision to establish and develop relations with the socialist countries in the post-independence period was, at one level, a straightforward one.