A statement by the US Treasury Department “allowing” India to buy Russian oil for 30 days amid the war in Iran has triggered widespread anger and doubts about national sovereignty.
On March 6, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that his department has issued “a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil.” He added that only transactions involving oil already stranded at sea had been permitted.
Bessent also claimed, “India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of US oil. This stopgap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage.”
Reacting to the wording of the announcement, many asked what authority the US has to dictate who India buys oil from.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said the announcement “clearly demonstrates [that] the Modi government is continuously ceding diplomatic space”.
“This is the kind of language which is used for sanctioned states and not India, who has been a responsible and an equal partner in global order,” Kharge said while accusing the Union government of making India a “virtual vassal state”.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said, “India’s foreign policy emerges from the collective will of our people … What we are witnessing today is not policy. It is the result of the exploitation of a compromised individual.”
Former New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked, “In the past few months, the countrymen have watched in great anguish as, one after another, at every step, you have bowed before Trump … Mr Modi, what exactly is this compulsion of yours that has you bowing before Trump?”
Former New Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia added, “We’re told that India has become the ‘Vishwaguru’ today. What kind of Vishwaguru foreign policy is this? Where another country decides what India will buy, from whom it will buy, and for how many days it will buy?”
Bessent’s announcement also intensifies the ambiguity surrounding the India-US trade deal.
On February 2, US President Donald Trump announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “agreed to stop buying Russian oil and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela”.
However, India is yet to confirm this claim.
It was not mentioned in the joint statement issued by both countries on February 6 either. After the US Supreme Court blocked Trump’s global tariffs on February 20, India postponed talks in Washington, DC to finalise a trade agreement. There is no clarity at present on when talks will resume.
Journalists, activists and concerned citizens have also reacted to Bessent’s announcement.