This take is historically ignorant.
The 1973 oil shock was caused by OPEC targeting US & NATO allies after the Yom Kippur War—not India.
Oil prices were global, not rewards or punishments for political loyalty. Germany, Japan, the UK—all suffered inflation and recession too.
India’s stance then was national interest, not sentiment:
Heavy dependence on Gulf oil
Millions of Indian workers in the Middle East
Pakistan actively courting Arab backing
Neutrality wouldn’t have reduced prices by a single dollar.
Blaming Indira Gandhi for a worldwide energy crisis is lazy revisionism. Her leadership is defined by 1971 and Bangladesh, not crude prices set by cartels.
And India later built strong ties with Israel—because real diplomacy understands context.
👉 If you think India’s economy was wrecked because Arabs were “angry with us,” you don’t understand geopolitics—you barely understand economics.