Iran-Israel war: Government to meet stakeholders this week to assess impact on India's trade
NEW DELHI: The government is closely monitoring the situation arising from the Iran-Israel conflict, and a meeting with shipping lines, container firms, and other stakeholders will be held this week to assess the impact on the country's overseas trade and address any issue, a top official said on Monday.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the impact of the war on India's trade will depend on how the situation unfolds over a period of time.
"We are watching the situation. We are also calling a meeting (this week) of all the shipping lines, the container organisations and the concerned departments, and stakeholders to understand from them that what are the kind of issues they are facing and how we can sort it out," he told reporters here. Exporters have stated that the war, if escalated further, would impact world trade and push both air and sea freight rates.
They have expressed apprehensions that the conflict is expected to impact movement of merchant ships from the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea.
Nearly two-thirds of India's crude oil and half of its LNG imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has now threatened to close.
This narrow waterway, only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, handles nearly a fifth of global oil trade and is indispensable to India, which depends on imports for over 80 per cent of its energy needs.
According to think tank GTRI, any closure or military disruption in the Strait of Hormuz would sharply increase oil prices, shipping costs, and insurance premiums, triggering inflation, pressuring the rupee, and complicating India's fiscal management.
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Economic Times
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