Amidst West Asia conflict causing disruption in maritime and air cargo routes through the region, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasad has assured that the Government has been closely monitoring the evolving geopolitical situation in the region, including its impact on the country’s external trade, shipping routes and logistics chains. He also noted that stakeholders have reported some concerns about increase in freight costs due to rerouting and war risk surcharges, cargo accumulation at ports and logistics hubs, and financial stress arising from longer transit cycles.

Further, the minister said that these concerns were raised across sectors, including agricultural products, textiles, engineering goods and other export consignments. He highlighted that that the government's response has focused on coordinated trade facilitation, logistics support, customs simplification, maritime monitoring, and engagement with concerned stakeholders to reduce the impact of the disruption on India's exports, including exports to the wider Gulf region.

Moreover, underscoring the country’s sustained diversified and resilient export growth, he said the country's total exports of merchandise and services rose 5.26% to $714.73 billion during April-January period of this fiscal from $679.02 billion in during same period of 2024-25. Further, the country’s exports were worth $497.90 billion in 2020-21 and $828.25 billion in 2024-25. He emphasized that the consistent growth in exports positions the country as a strong player in global trade even under challenging external condition.