SRINAGAR, April 4 -- As the war in West Asia disrupts demand, shipments and payments across the Gulf, Kashmir's Rs.800 crore handicrafts industry is seeing orders stall, cash get locked up and livelihoods fray-exposing its deep reliance on export markets.

In Eidgah's Narwara locality, Pashmina weaver Rauf Ahmad Qureshi, 54, keeps one eye on his loom and the other on television updates from the Gulf, where demand for his work is shaped. "We get work through traders, so any crisis impacts us quickly," he told Mint. "An artisan lives hand to mouth. If orders stop even for a few days, it becomes difficult to manage daily expenses."

A third-generation artisan, Qureshi produces shawls, stoles and embroidered pieces for buyers in the Gulf and ...