NEW DELHI, Oct 1—President Nikolai V. Podgorny of the Soviet Union arrived for a brief visit in India this afternoon. His visit is another public demonstration of the closer ties that the two countries have been promoting since they signed a friendship and cooperation treaty in August.

Although Mr. Podgorny is here for a brief stopover—he leaves tomorrow morning for talks in Hanoi—Indian officials have chosen to interpret the visit as another show of Soviet support for New Delhi's position on the East Pakistani crisis.

The Podgorny visit comes two days after the Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, returned from a 48‐hour visit in Moscow during which she elicited somewhat stronger statements from the Russians than they had made previously on the Pakistani Government's military action in East Pakistan.

For the last six months, Pakistani Army troops have been trying to crush the Bengali independence movement in East Pakistan. About nine million East Pakistani refugees have fled across the border to India, placing a severe strain on India and raising the possibility of war between India and Pakistan.

High Indian officials who were at the New Delhi airport to greet President Podgorny implied that the Russians had made some new commitments during Mrs. Gandhi's visit.

The Soviet leader, making his first trip to India, was welcomed by President V. V. Giri. Mr. Podgorny then proceeded down a reception line of Indian officials and diplomats from Eastern European and other Communist countries. Mrs. Gandhi, said to be suffering from a cold, did not come to the airport.

Both President Giri and Mrs. Gandhi later paid courtesy calls on Mr. Podgorny, who is staying in the Presidential Palace. But no discussions of substantive matters were held.