Indian economist and author Surjit Bhalla said weak private investment, rather than the West Asia conflict, is the core reason India’s economic growth has slowed, arguing that strong Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers earlier this year masked an underlying shortfall in private-sector capital formation. India’s ranking as the world’s sixth-largest economy is not a new development- it reflects IMF data from 2025 that showed India slipping from the fourth spot, primarily due to rupee depreciation and a change in the GDP base year, not a shrinkage in economic activity. Since the outbreak of war in the Middle East in February 2026, India has faced an energy shock and higher oil prices, which have pressured the current account deficit, inflation, and growth forecasts, and initially pushed the rupee to multi-year lows.