The renewed enmity of Pakistan combined with the hostility of the West on the Afghan issue also provided fertile ground for the external growth of the Khalistan movement. In terms of its sources of support, India was stuck with the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, which was a no-win situation in all circumstances. As the USSR came under pressure at the same time as India, the two countries became bound to each other even closer. For India, what started as an effective exploitation of a global contradiction ended as an impasse of some consequence.
