New Delhi, Jan. 5 -- Dear reader,

The US intervention in Venezuela has thrown up fresh uncertainty for India, which has billions of dollars invested in the sanctions-hit oil-rich nation and unpaid dividends stuck there.

India's state-run firms have invested about $2.5 billion in Venezuelan projects, but years of US sanctions have squeezed production and blocked dividend repatriation. A regime change could, over time, ease sanctions and reopen access to the world's largest oil reserves, offering India both crude supplies and a chance to recover nearly $600 million in dues.

For now, however, experts warn of near-term volatility driven by damaged infrastructure, hyperinflation and political instability. While India now imports little Vene...