Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that the country’s merchandise exports to the West Asian region declined 28 per cent to USD 4.16 billion in April this year as against USD 5.78 billion in April last year.
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Imports from the region also declined by 31.64 per cent to USD 10.47 billion last month from USD 15.32 billion in the year-ago period.
India’s exports to the UAE and Saudi Arabia contracted by 36.39 per cent to USD 2.18 billion and 2.89 per cent to USD 852 million in April, respectively.
Imports from the UAE dropped 34.63 per cent to USD 4.07 billion. However, from Saudi Arabia, it grew 30.29 per cent to USD 3.84 billion, and from Oman, it jumped by 246.42 per cent to USD 1.48 billion.
In March, India’s exports and imports with the Middle East region plunged by over 50 per cent.The joint attack against Iran launched by the US and Israel in February has led to restrictions on the movement of consignments through a key sea trading route – the Strait of Hormuz.
It is a key waterway (33 km wide) for shipments from India to the Middle East or West Asian nations that include the UAE, Oman, Iran, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
India normally exports goods worth about USD 6 billion every month to the region.
Also read: India moves to buffer economy against Iran war fallout
The main sectors that have recorded a dip in shipments include gems and jewellery, engineering goods, electronic items, petroleum products and rice.
Disruptions in the movement of oil and gas from the Middle East countries have also led to an increase in the prices of raw materials such as steel, plastic and rubber.
The government has rolled out a host of measures to cushion exporters from the impact of the conflict in the Gulf region, a key market for India’s exports such as gems and jewellery, rice and pharma, which were valued at about USD 57 billion in 2024-25.
The conflict is posing challenges for exporters to ship goods to the Gulf region, with which India had a bilateral trade of USD 178 billion in 2024-25 (USD 56.87 billion exports and USD 121.67 billion imports). PTI