India's Trade Exposure to West Asia

India's economic relationship with West Asia extends well beyond oil. The region is a major destination for Indian exports (rice, textiles, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals), a source of remittances (approximately 9 million Indian diaspora in the Gulf), and a hub for Indian shipping and logistics. Any prolonged conflict raises shipping insurance premiums, causes payment delays, and disrupts trade financing — all of which ripple through multiple sectors of the Indian economy. Rising oil prices also drive rupee depreciation (as India's import bill rises), which further inflates the cost of all other imports.