Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has said that India's exports and imports to the West Asia region fell by over 50 per cent in March 2026 due to ongoing logistical disruptions triggered by the US-Israel attack on Iran. He said while India’s exports to West Asia dipped by 57.95 per cent in March, imports from the region also declined 51.64 per cent due to the conflict. A joint US-Israel military operation against Iran in February has led to temporary closure of a key sea trading route - 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.

Agrawal noted that India normally exports goods worth about $6 billion every month to the region, but in March it was only about $2.5 billion. Exports fell by around $3.5 billion in March to that region. The main five sectors that have recorded dip in shipments include gems and jewellery, engineering goods, electronic items, petroleum products and rice. 

He said ‘logistical challenges would pose difficulties for Indian exports but our export industry is going to adapt, and we are going to look at new markets also.’ He expressed hope that whatever India was not able to send or sell to the Middle East because of these logistical challenges, exporters will be able to diversify to other markets. He said ‘because of this, recalibration of supply chains does take place in such kind of crisis. It's not only India-Middle East logistics challenge, it's a world-Middle East logistics challenge that we are anticipating’.