New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- The reserve room matters most when the storm is arriving rather than after it passes. For the week ending August 22, the Reserve Bank of India reported that India's foreign exchange reserves crossed $728 billion for the first time - a record that arrives as the United States' Operation Economic Outcast sanctions campaign against Iran threatens to reroute the energy trade that India depends on for a significant share of its crude oil supply.

buying dollars when they flood in to prevent the rupee from appreciating too sharply - and building a buffer designed precisely for moments like the current one.

The connection to the West Asian crisis is not incidental. Three weeks into the most aggressive American economic pre...