NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, has strongly criticized the Narendra Modi-led government after the United States temporarily allowed Russian oil stranded at sea to be sold to India, raising questions about the country’s autonomy in making decisions related to national interests.
The development came after the US eased certain sanctions to permit the delivery and sale of Russian crude already loaded on vessels as of March 5, 2026. The waiver was issued by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and allows such transactions to continue until April 3, 2026.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the decision was taken to ensure stability in global energy markets. According to him, the short-term waiver would allow oil already stranded at sea to enter the market and would not significantly benefit the Russian government. He also stated that the move could help ease pressure on global energy supplies amid rising tensions in the Middle East following the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
However, the move sparked political criticism in India. In a post on X, the Congress party accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government of allowing a situation where the United States appears to decide where India can buy oil from.
The opposition party said that the decision was not being made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the Indian government, questioning why India needed external permission to purchase oil. Congress also asserted that India is a sovereign and independent nation and should not require approval from any country to make decisions related to its national interest.
The Karnataka unit of the Congress also questioned the government, asking why India would need approval from US President Donald Trump to take decisions affecting its own energy security.
Earlier, India had indicated it might reduce or stop purchasing Russian oil as part of a broader trade arrangement with the United States. However, the temporary US waiver now allows shipments of Russian crude already at sea to be delivered and sold to India.
Meanwhile, the US had imposed sanctions on major Russian oil companies, including Lukoil and Rosneft, in November last year as part of efforts to pressure Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions prompted several countries that rely on Russian oil to look for alternative suppliers.
Reports also suggest that Russia has assembled a fleet of aging oil tankers with opaque ownership structures to bypass Western sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the G7 nations following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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