International Relations Assessment - 2

Abstract
The end of the Cold War in the 1990 was clearly a milestone in the world politics and had a huge
impact in the international political economy. This impact can be clearly seen in the case of India,
who has taken a non-alignment policy during the Cold War and it forced India to change its policies.
The uncertainty which prevailed in the global economy after 1990, made it tough for a country like
India and it made India make some fundamental changes in its foreign policies. This paper aims to
analyse the challenges faced by India and the opportunities which it had, after 1990. It will also
attempt to find some policy measures which India should take in the coming ten years.
Introduction
A foreign policy of a country is a set of strategies which are economic, political or cultural to
safeguard its own interests. It puts out a layout for conduct with other countries and defines its
stance at international affairs. Its main motive is to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the
country and to improve the social and economic conditions of its citizens and to have strong trading
relationship with its neighbouring countries. The perception of the country might change over time
in accordance with the changing scenarios but the core motive of a country will never change. And
these policies should be flexible and must be able to adjust to the changes in the international and
national environment.
The political and the economic dynamics of the 21
st
world are clearly distinctive as compared
to that of the 20
th
century. The nation sates around the world has undergone drastic transformations
due to the two world wars and the cold war followed by it. By 1950s, the powers of the European
colonisers were fading away and this period also witnessed the emergence of various nation states
and the rise of United States of America and the Soviet Union as the two major world powers. The
following decades witnessed serious ideological clash between these two countries and the
countries which supported these two countries. India after it became an independent nation in 1947,
adopted a non-alignment policy towards its foreign affairs; i.e. India will not join either of the sides
but it doesnt mean that India will take a neutral stance. This policy means that India will take
independent decisions on international affairs according to the situation. This policy also helped to
uphold the sovereignty of the country and to make independent decisions rather than taking a
decision which may not be in the best interest of the country. This policy of India was praised by
many and was supported due to this nature. Indias then policies were based on the principles of
socialism and capitalism. India was trying to make a good policy by marrying these two ideologies
and the policy making was easy for India as there were only two distinctive sides. The bipolar
political structure created a kind of pattern or order in the realm of international politics. But the
disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 put an end to the 45 year old Cold War which created a
total chaos in the international political scenario. This was a serious blow for almost all countries in
the world especially those countries which took a non-alignment policy. This incident forced India to
restructure its foreign policy to cope with the uncertainty which came up.
India since its independence has came a long way and it made a phenomenal growth within a
time period of 3 to 4 decades. It became a front runner compared to other developing countries.
And it also a country with huge human resource and is geographically placed in a politically strategic
place. But the disintegration of the USSR had serious impact on India because they were the largest
supplier of military equipments and spares and India had weak ties with the United States.
Challenges came up after the end of the Cold War but they were also opportunities in disguise and
paved a way for India to reshape its foreign and domestic policies.
The Post Cold War era saw a series of global changes which was ideological, military and
economic. New trends emerged in the international political scenario and one the most important
change which happened was that there was willingness in the international community and the US
emerged as a mediator for solving crisis in the North-eastern Europe. Another trend is the
emergence of trading blocs between the neighbouring countries. Countries realised the need for
economic independence and some of the important grouping which emerged are ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations), European Union and NAFTA (North American Free Trade
Agreement). The loss of its greatest trading partner, USSR and economic crisis in the homeland in
1991 made India rethink about its highly regulated economy by the centre. The economy of the
country started to shackle in 1980s due to the growing fiscal imbalances. And over the next 5 years
India started to have payments problem because of the Gulf war which swelled up Indias oil import
bill. By the end of 1990, India was in a serious economic crisis. It reached to a point where the
country could only finance 3 weeks of imports. India had to use its gold reserves as pledge to get
loan from International Monetary Fund (IMF). P.V. Narasimha Rao came into power in July 1991
shortly after the fall of Chandra Sekhar government and with the help of Manmohan Singh as the
finance minister, the newly formed government made a series of reforms which are together known
as liberalisation of the economy. These reforms lifted the strict regulations over trade and business.
Indias tariffs continued to be higher even though it opened up the economy. Even today the tariffs
imposed by India are higher than other countries. These apart, by the opening up of the economy,
India was saved from a huge crisis and this policy helped India to have a strong GDP growth. The end
of the Cold War has forced to leave the ideology in its foreign policy which it stuck to after the
independence and to reshape its policy in accordance with the new environment.
Indias relation with the super powers
The main challenge which had to overcome was to create a good relation with the world
super powers after the fall of the USSR, who was Indias greatest strategic partner. The countries
which emerged as the global superpowers are China, Russia, Japan, U.S. and the European Union.
One of the main objectives of Indias foreign policy is to emerge as a global power but in order to do
this; it needs to have strong relations with the current super powers. It was very challenging for India
to make US the focus of its new foreign policy. After the cold War, Indian representatives pointed out
that it is ready for a broader relationship with the US in the area of technology, culture, economy and
education. Through this relation India wanted to show the rest of the world that it is a global player.
The civilian nuclear deal between the two nations was an important cooperation deal.
Other than US, China is a country which has an important say in the international politics.
After the Cold War, China growth was exponentially high compared to any country in the world and
within a very short period of time they emerged as a big super power. This growth of China puts a
challenge for India and China is making it harder for India to achieve its foreign policy objectives.
Both of the countries have rivalry regarding the border issues and they are also great competitors in
the market economy and both the nations want to influence other Asian nations. Both the nations
have also come together in many world issues such as environmental issues, energy security and
having a new economic order.
Japan and Russian are the strategic partners of India. Even after the Cold War, Russia is
the dominant supplier of defence equipments and technology to India. It is very important for India
to look for multiple sources of oil and gas and not to be dependent only on one source for energy.
The relationship with Russia will help India in a future struggle for natural resources. Another
important opportunity which India has got is the growing relationship with the European Union.
India is among the few countries which have established a strategic relationship with the EU. This
partnership was established in the year 2005 in which both the sides have made agreements in
various areas such science and technology, education, terrorism, trade and investment and the
decentralisation of the UN.

The Look East Policy
As there was an uncertainty in the west shortly after the Cold War, India decided to look into its
neighbouring Asian countries for trade and commerce. India realised the potential and the
importance of having strong relations with the south-east Asian countries and this made India to
launch the Look East policy in 1991. For any country to have a strong and stable economy in the long
run, it needs to have strong economic and diplomatic relationships with the neighbouring countries.
It was after the cold war, India realised the significance of regional cooperation and the Look East
policy was a step towards it.

India and Nuclear Weapons
When India made its foreign policy in the early years by then prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, India
was totally against the any kind of nuclear programme and also wanted to disarm nuclear warheads
globally. But the Indo-china war in 1962 and Chinas nuclear test in the year 1964, forced India to
rethink about its nuclear policy. India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974, but it adhered to its
ideology. After the Cold War, few countries like USA and China were emerging as superpowers.
Especially Chinas military growth after the 1990 created a lot of anxiety on the Indian side. And the
emergence of US a global police and its support to the Pakistan also created tensions in the India
side. Under these circumstances India conducted its second nuclear test in 1998. Through these tests
India was globally acknowledged as a nuclear power. This move from the Indian side generated a lot
outcry in the world. In response to this move, the Clinton government decided to impose economic
sanctions on India and lift the incentives which were provided. But these sanctions did not hold its
place and it failed. Both the nations came to an agreement that their economic relationships cannot
be hampered because of the huge market which India provided for the US and India needed US
because it was one of its greatest trading partners.
India is among the few countries which did not sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). India
made a clear distinction between horizontal and vertical proliferation. It argues that and considers
itself as domestic proliferators but not as an international one. The main reason why India opposes
the NPT and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) are because of their discriminatory codes. Firstly
it supports the nuclear equipped countries over the countries which do not have nuclear warheads.
Secondly it focuses on the de-proliferating and disarming of the have-nots and not the reduction of
nuclear weapons capabilities and the stockpiles which the nuclear haves hold. Actually the Indias
refusal to sign the CTBT was its reaction towards the US for conducting the fusion research
conducted by the countries which have nuclear weapons. Since both the US and India knew that
their economic relations is a necessary and over a series of discussions the sanction on India was
lifted by the US. And to calm down the American government, India volunteered to agree to the
principles of the NPT. The Kargil War which happened in the year didnt have devastating outcomes
just because both the sides were equipped with nuclear warheads. This showed the success of the
India Nuclear policy. In the year 2005, India and USA has cut a historic deal regarding nuclear
weapons and atomic energy. As a result, the United States agreed to make changes in its non-
proliferation law.