The challenges that confront India after the end of cold war and disintegration of Soviet Union:

(i) Background: The end of the cold war in 1989 has brought about significant changes in the international scene and hence new policy problems for the various states in the developing world including India. The new situation is marked by greater uncertainty and complexity.

(ii) End of Cold war and disintegration of USSR: For India, disintegration of the Soviet Union has meant uncertainty on several aspects viz. supply of weapons system, supply of spare parts, diplomatic support on Kashmir and other politico strategic issues in and outside the United Nations and as a counter weight to US in South Asia. During the last one decade and a half international politics has undergone major changes. The cold war has ended, the world has become unipolar, a number of states have disintegrated, cold war military blocs have lost their significance, some such blocs have dissolved and new regional economic blocs are shaping up.

(iii) Rise of globalisation and emerging challenges: Globalisation has given rise to new sets of problems such as terrorism, money laundering, proliferation of weapons, global warming etc. These problems are not endemic to any region but affect all the countries to some extent or the other. This has forced many nation states which were hitherto enemies to cooperate with each other to solve problems which are universal in nature. In this changed international scenario it has become imperative for the UN to restructure and reform itself if it is to effectively respond to emerging challenges.

(iv) Terriorism in Jammu and Kashmir: Militancy in Kashmir has emerged as the foremost challenge to our foreign policy. Pakistan and the Western countries blamed India for violating human rights and denied the right to self determination. Gradually, India brought the situation under control. Because of the Kashmir dispute, India's relations with Pakistan sharply deteriorated. India accused Pakistan of fanning terrorists through cross border terrorism in Kashmir and other parts of our country.

(v) Nuclear test and reactions of Pakistan: The escaping knowns and suspicions were largely responsible for our decision to conduct nuclear weapon tests in 1998, followed by Pakistan's tests. Pakistan reported further mischief by suspiciously sending its soldiers into Kargil in order to cut off the Kashmir valley from the rest of India. India handled the challenge firmly and effectively. Now engaging Pakistan in a constructive and composite dialogue process remains a challenge to India's foreign policy. Because there is a great deal of push from the United States.

(vi) Spread of terrorism in other parts and challenges before India's foreign policy: Spread of terrorism to corners beyond Kashmir is a challenge as well as opportunity for our foreign policy nowadays. India is interested in forming an anti-terrorism coalition with as many countries as possible.

(vii) Challenges with friendship: Keeping old friendships and looking for new friendships is another challenge for our foreign policy after the cold war has ended. For example, India is interested in strengthening its relations without damaging its relations with Arabian countries. Similarly, India's foreign policy is tackling new tasks like deepening economic and security cooperation with the United States, while at the same time opposing unilateral actions against Iraq and Yugoslavia.

(viii) Economic aspects of foreign Policy: Finally, India is realising the growing importance of the economic aspect of foreign policy. Hence it is trying to establish a new basis for its relations with neighbouring countries in South Asia, China and the South East Asian countries.