‘Mortgaged to American interests’: US approval for Russian oil sparks outrage from Indian opposition

2026-03-06 - 13:53

The Indian National Congress on Friday assailed the Narendra Modi-led BJP government after the US temporarily allowed Russian oil stranded at sea to be sold to India, saying the move called into question the country’s autonomy in matters of national interest. The waiver, which the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was issued to “enable oil to keep flowing into the global market,” comes under heightened tensions in the Middle East following the US-Israeli attack on Iran, sparking uncertainty around oil. It should be noted that India had earlier said it would stop purchasing Russian oil as part of a trade deal with the US. In a post on X, the Congress, citing the development, criticised the Indian government, and stressed that the BJP-led government “has led the country to a situation where the US is now deciding where India can buy oil from and where it cannot”. “This decision is not being made by Prime Minister Modi, nor by the Indian government,” it said. Congress said the Indian citizens were asking, “Who is the US to ‘permit’ India to buy oil?” “We are not slaves to any nation; we are a sovereign and independent country. Period,” Congress said. It added that Modi was unable to question US authority, “because he is completely compromised and has mortgaged the country to American interests”. The Congress’s Karnataka chapter also assailed the government and posed a series of questions to the Indian government, including “why does India need approval from Trump to take decisions in its own national interest?” Earlier, the US government temporarily eased economic sanctions against Russia to allow Russian oil currently stranded at sea to be sold to India. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a Russia-related licence “Authorising the Delivery and Sale of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products of Russian Federation Origin Loaded on Vessels as of March 5, 2026, to India,” the Treasury said in a statement. It said the transactions, including those from vessels blocked by various sanctions regimes, are authorised through the end of the day on April 3, 2026. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the waiver was issued “To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market.” “This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorises transactions involving oil already stranded at sea,” he posted on X. The sale to India will “alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage,” he added, even though India has said it will stop purchasing Russian oil as part of a trade deal with the United States. In a rare effort to pressure Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Trump imposed sanctions on Russian oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft last November. Those moves — the most powerful by Trump against Russia over the Ukraine war — saw major buyers of Russian oil scramble to find alternative suppliers. Russia has reportedly built up a flotilla of old oil tankers of opaque ownership to get around sanctions imposed by Washington, the European Union and the G7 group of nations, over Moscow’s 2022 all-out invasion of Ukraine.