New Delhi, May 31 -- The crisis in West Asia is painfully familiar. Markets have seen conflict, shipping risks and price spikes before. Yet, every episode re-teaches the same lesson: when you are heavily import dependent, energy is not merely a commodity. It shapes inflation, claims foreign exchange and constrains economic policy.

That said, India has made genuine progress: world-class refining capacity, expanded access and a serious push on renewables. We have improved the machinery, yet left the foundations exposed.

The Strait of Hormuz is a reminder. We should not pretend that chokepoints are exotic risks. In the 1990s, I emphasized that geopolitics would remain a principal determinant of international oil markets, with supply crises...