New Delhi, March 20 -- The market's first response to the escalating conflict in West Asia was predictable: crude surged, equities turned volatile, and investors rushed to price in the risk of a wider energy shock. But the bigger message for Indian investors is this: the ripple effects are no longer theoretical. They have begun to materialise. Brent briefly climbed to near $120 a barrel before pulling back, underscoring how quickly war risk in the Gulf can spill over into energy markets and global asset prices.

For India, that matters immediately. The country may be entering this episode from a position of relative domestic stability, with growth still resilient and inflation softer than it was a year ago, but that stability rests on a f...