India's trade with West Asia returns to near-normal levels

A little over six months into the West Asia war, India’s trade with the region has returned to near-normal levels. India’s exports to West Asia stood at $5.56 billion in September 2026, only marginally lower than the $5.94 billion recorded in September last year.

India's imports from the region stood at $13.64 billion last month, broadly in line with the $13.76 billion recorded in September 2025. India’s exports to West Asia in June, July and August this year were higher than in the corresponding months of 2025, while imports were lower.

The UAE was India’s second-largest export market between April and September 2026, with exports totalling $16.7 billion during the period. This was, however, lower than the $18.75 billion recorded in the first half of the previous fiscal year.

Meanwhile, despite continued geopolitical tensions, India’s merchandise exports have maintained their growth momentum, with the government confident that goods exports will exceed $500 billion this fiscal year.

“We are very hopeful that if the trend of last year continues, goods exports in the second half of the fiscal year will be higher than the first half. We are looking at a trend that merchandise exports are much higher than $500 billion,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said on Thursday.

The cumulative value of merchandise exports during April-September 2026-27 stood at $259.89 billion, up 18.51% from $219.30 billion in April-September 2025-26. In September, goods exports rose 23.9% to $44.4 billion from $36.08 billion a year earlier.

Significantly, the data showed that India’s gold and silver imports had fallen substantially, a decline the Commerce Secretary attributed partly to higher import duties. India imported gold worth $1.8 billion in September, down sharply from $9.61 billion in September 2025.

In August 2026, gold imports had nearly halved to $2.3 billion from $5.44 billion a year earlier. During the first half of the fiscal year, gold imports fell 27.32% to $19.27 billion from $26.51 billion a year ago.

The value of silver imports in the first half of the current fiscal year also fell 25.71% to $2.4 billion from $3.21 billion a year earlier. In September, silver imports stood at $665.08 million, compared with $1.3 billion in September 2025.