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The Indian government Monday warned that a prolonged war in Iraq could adversely affect the global economy and Indian exports in the next fiscal.
Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley said, "A long war can have an adverse impact on the global economy and our exports," adding that the Gulf nations contribute to 11 percent of India's total exports and the "war-zone" was an important trading partner.
"We enjoy a trade surplus of US$2.7 billion with the Gulf nations and our exports were growing by 36.33 percent during April-December," he said after unveiling the Exim (Export-import) Policy for 2003-04.
Asked about the impact of the war on exports of this fiscal, he said, "I don't think that the war would have any significant impact on this fiscal's exports as it started in the last 10 days."
However, he warned that India's export prospects would depend on the duration of the war and the impact on global oil prices and economy.
India's exports grew by 16.76 percent in dollar terms in the first 11 months of 2002-03 (April 2002-Februray 2003).
(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2003)
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