The shift in power balance in the subcontinent in favour of India, following the Indian victory in the 1971 India-Pakistan War, led Sheikh Abdullah to the conclusion that he had little choice except to follow the terms India dictated.[3] The Indian victory in Bangladesh increased Indira Gandhi's status as premier in India and she dealt heavily with the Kashmiri demand for plebiscite. She also stated that it was inconceivable to accept Sheikh Abdullah's demand for the restoration of the pre-1953 relationship between Kashmir and India because "the clock could not be put back in this manner".[4] In 1975, Sheikh Abdullah dropped his demand that the people of Kashmir be given the right to self-determination. Abdullah, whose popularity since 1953 arose from his opposition to India, would not have agreed to such terms even five years prior to the Accord.[5]