Ludhiana industries hit hard by Gulf countries boycott of Indian products

Many Muslim countries including Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Pakistan among others besides the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have issued strong statements of condemnation and summoned the Indian envoys to register their protest.

Ludhiana(Punjab): Despite the BJP expressing regret over its former national spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s remarks about Prophet, the latter's statement irked the Islamic countries, which in turn demanded an apology. These remarks have stoked up a major controversy both domestically and internationally and damaged trade, particularly for Indian diplomacy and the consequence may have a far-reaching effect on Indian trade.

Boycotts of Indian products by Gulf countries are proving to be risky since the Gulf countries the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia make up about 10 per cent of India’s $1 trillion trade. India faced a diplomatic disaster in the last few days with as many as 15 countries, including most Arab nations, strongly reacting to BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's controversial remarks against Prophet Muhammad.

The region accounts for more than half of the South Asian country’s oil imports. A huge loss of crores has been incurred by the Ludhiana industry, annual import and export of crores of rupees from India to Gulf countries. After a recent statement by a former BJP spokesperson, India is facing strong protests in Gulf countries, even banning Indian products from Gulf countries. News agency reported that a supermarket in Kuwait has removed Indian rice, spices and chillies from its shelves.

Industrialists, who export a large number of products to Gulf countries from Ludhiana and Jalandhar, said that the cycle industry, hosiery and auto parts would be the worst-hit since they are boycotting Indian products in large numbers. Food items, including chemicals and some crude oil, are also imported from Ludhiana by Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia is India's fourth-largest trading partner with a turnover of around Rs 42 billion last year.

India's crude oil trade is the largest among the Gulf countries. As per reports, 84 per cent of India's petroleum demand, which includes crude oil and petroleum products, is met by Gulf countries alone. In addition, Kuwait and UAE have been sending shipments to India whilel Iran is the second-largest exporter of crude oil to India.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan and Yemen are the countries with the largest Muslim population in the world. In some countries, there has been a complete ban on Indian products in shops in spite of having a large Indian population. The people of the country are already worried about the hike in petrol and diesel prices. Products going to the Gulf countries are manufactured, along with petroleum products.

Vinod Thapar, President of Knitwear and Hosiery and MD of Vishwakarma Industries, associated with the cycle parts industry said, "There is no doubt about the increase in tension between India and the Gulf countries in the coming days. Chances of a hike in petrol and diesel prices will increase further. Ludhiana industry is already running in losses."

The industry did not get a boost even after the end of Corona. For this reason, the businessmen associated with the industry of Ludhiana are seeing this as a big loss. He said that there has been a loss in their production during the demonetisation, then GST and then Corona. The situation in Afghanistan and then the war between Ukraine and Russia cost them dearly, and now the resentment of the Gulf countries is further adding to the damage.