Vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 11, 2026. | Photo Credit: STRINGER

India’s exports to West Asia bounced back in May 2026, rescued primarily by the swift operationalisation of an alternative transit route leveraging Oman’s advanced port infrastructure.

With the Strait of Hormuz facing heightened maritime security risks, India managed to successfully circumvent the volatile chokepoint by routing cargo directly through Omani ports like Sohar, Salalah, and Duqm, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal noted.

“Exports to the region have risen due to the effort of exporters and our agencies on ground, along with the Ministry of Ports to see that new routes for exports were opened and new ports in Oman were made functional,” Agrawal said.

By opening new routes through Oman’s Sohar, Salalah, and Duqm ports, India effectively established a structured transit corridor straight into the UAE and across the Gulf, including through Jebel Ali, officials explained. This has now positioned Oman as a permanent, vital hub for India’s trade flows across the region.

While the initial outbreak of the regional conflict caused exports to West Asia to crash to $2.6 billion in March 2026, down 56.8 per cent from $6.03 billion in March 2025, there was a gradual recovery in April, with shipments jumping heavily back on track in May. Outbound shipments to the region climbed back to $5.30 billion for the month, almost neck-and-neck with the $5.38 billion recorded in May 2025, with the rapid turnaround driven strongly by resilient demand in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Yemen.

“So we have more or less achieved the same level of exports in spite of the challenges that we are facing in that region,” Agrawal said.

The UAE remained the primary anchor of the recovery, with merchandise exports rising 3.18 per cent year-on-year to $3.06 billion in May, demonstrating a sharp rebound from April’s 36.43 per cent plunge. Shipments to Saudi Arabia grew 11.12 per cent to $0.92 billion over the same period.

Officials said that while initially, priority was being given to shipments of perishables, gradually other exports from India had started using the Oman route.

Agrawal noted that trade flows could get an additional boost from any sustained de-escalation in regional friction, pointing specifically to the newly announced US–Iran peace framework on June 14, 2026.

Published on June 15, 2026