A Finance Ministry official has commented that even though the attack on Afghansistan has not done the economy any good, it has not created any new issues that could seriously damage the economic fabric. "This is not a conventional war. And as long as it remains so, it would not have much impact on world economies. The US economy is getting increasingly mired in recession, and that is affecting the Indian economy more than the war," he said.
The official said the markets have been sluggish for over a month now. "If at all there has been an effect of the war, it is marginal," he added.
Top officials in the financial industry too are not perturbed. Ms Kalpana Morparia, Executive Director, ICICI, said, "the attack per se would not have any impact on the Indian economy. Markets anyway had factored in the strikes. The sluggishness in the US economy would hurt us more than the attack."