India, May 2 -- Pakistan has acknowledged energy vulnerability as global crude prices surge, admitting it does not have "strategic oil reserves like India" to cushion the blow. The remark comes as oil prices climb to $126 per barrel, driven by disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing Middle East tensions.

Speaking in an interview with Samaa TV, Pakistan's petroleum minister Musadik Malik laid out the scale of the challenge, saying, "We don't have any strategic oil reserves. we only have commercial reserves".

He went on to reveal that Islamabad has crude stocks for just "five to seven days", in contrast, India can tap into significantly larger reserves "with just a single signature."

The contrast with India has become central to...