{"id":322575,"date":"2026-03-10T14:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/322575\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T14:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:40:07","slug":"prolonged-west-asia-conflict-may-impact-trade-energy-supplies-assocham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/322575\/","title":{"rendered":"Prolonged West Asia Conflict May Impact Trade, Energy Supplies: Assocham"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(<a style=\"color:black\" href=\"https:\/\/menafn.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MENAFN<\/a>&#8211; IANS) New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) Assocham on Tuesday cautioned that a prolonged regional conflict in West Asia, amid escalating tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, could disrupt global trade and affect India&#8217;s energy supplies and exports.<\/p>\n<p>The apex industry chamber said India&#8217;s economy is closely linked to West Asian supply chains while also relying heavily on the Gulf region as a key export destination.<\/p>\n<p>The Middle East remains a major supplier of crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), petrochemicals, fertilisers and aluminium.<\/p>\n<p>According to Assocham, one of the emerging concerns in the ongoing Israel\u2013Iran tensions is the potential disruption of oil and gas shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint that accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the world&#8217;s oil supply and a significant share of global LNG trade.<\/p>\n<p>Any prolonged disruption to shipping routes could drive up global fuel prices, the chamber said. It also highlighted that energy is a key input for manufacturing and logistics and higher prices could increase costs across global supply chains.<\/p>\n<p>Given India&#8217;s heavy dependence on imported crude oil, a surge in international oil prices could widen the current account deficit, increase inflationary pressures and affect economic growth prospects.<\/p>\n<p>Assocham President, N.K. Minda, noted that beyond goods trade, the Gulf region also plays a crucial role as a hub for the Indian diaspora.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Beyond goods trade, the Gulf is home to a large share of the Indian diaspora working in construction, healthcare, hospitality and tourism sectors. According to the Reserve Bank of India&#8217;s Remittances Survey for 2023\u201324, the UAE alone accounted for 19.2 per cent of India&#8217;s total inward remittances. Countries in the conflict-affected region form one of India&#8217;s most important remittance channels,&#8221; Minda said.<\/p>\n<p>Assocham Secretary General Col. Saurabh Sanyal said West Asia remains a key supplier of essential commodities to India.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In 2025, India&#8217;s imports from the region were around $98.7 billion and included critical resources such as energy, fertilisers and industrial inputs. Energy-intensive industries are likely to face challenges. At a time when global trade is witnessing heightened volatility and tariff uncertainty, such developments adversely affect trade predictability, stability and long-term business confidence,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The chamber also pointed out that disruptions to maritime routes in the Gulf have already delayed container shipments and deliveries across several parts of the world.<\/p>\n<p>As India both supplies to and imports products from the conflict-affected region, sectors such as gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, electronics, petroleum products and agricultural goods could face implications if the conflict continues for an extended period.<\/p>\n<p>Assocham noted that a large number of containers stuck at Indian ports are reportedly being taken back for domestic sale of goods due to shipment disruptions.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, the chamber welcomed the government&#8217;s decision to create an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) for Supply Chain Resilience to monitor developments in Iran and the wider region and assess their impact on India&#8217;s trade.<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color:black\" href=\"https:\/\/menafn.com\/1110841368\/Prolonged-West-Asia-Conflict-May-Impact-Trade-Energy-Supplies-Assocham\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>MENAFN10032026000231011071ID1110841368<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(MENAFN&#8211; IANS) New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) Assocham on Tuesday cautioned that a prolonged regional conflict in West&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-322575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}