‘My children did not attack Iran’: 2bn South Asians suffer from distant war

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are together home to nearly two billion people, about 23 percent of the world’s population. Even before the war on Iran, the region depended heavily on imported energy, much of it from Gulf countries. But the extent and nature of exposure of different South Asian countries to Gulf supplies and the Strait of Hormuz varied significantly. Now, they are all feeling the effects of the prolonged and expanding war, as more and more supply routes become choked. India imports about 85 percent of the crude oil it consumes – it is the world’s third-largest crude importer.