War could hit export performance: Jaitley

The government said on Monday that a prolonged US-led war against Iraq, along with the conflict's impact on oil prices, could hurt the nation's export performance.

"A long war will have an adverse impact on the global economy that could also impact our exports," Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters as he announced India's export-import policy for 2003-04.

"We're concerned with the Gulf as a region. As a trading partner, it's a very important region," he said, adding that the war's effect on oil prices could also hurt India's exports.

Eleven percent of India's exports go to the Gulf region. During the first nine months of 2002-03, Indian exports to the region jumped 36.33 per cent.

Jaitley added that Indian export orders worth Rs 1, 000 crore (Rs 10 billion) are being held up because of the Iraq war.

"(Export) orders worth Rs 1,000 crore are in various stages of implementation. Rs 600 crores (Rs 6 billion), which are waiting for delivery are affected due to the port closure in Iraq," he told reporters.