The Indian rupee finds itself caught between two powerful external forces — rising crude oil prices and a strengthening US dollar buoyed by climbing interest rate expectations — a familiar tension for emerging market currencies when capital seeks the safety and yield of American shores. As foreign investors withdraw billions from Indian markets, the Reserve Bank of India stands in quiet resistance, intervening to hold the currency near the 96-per-dollar threshold. Yet within this pressure, India's central bank offers a longer view: that the rupee's slide since early 2025 is a temporary misread