New Delhi, March 6 Opposition parties on Friday accused the government of ceding diplomatic space after the US announced a temporary waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil, a move that the ruling BJP hailed as a success of "strategic oil diplomacy" under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that India's foreign policy was a result of "exploiting a compromised individual," referring to Prime Minister Modi.
The Congress and its president Mallikarjun Kharge echoed this sentiment in separate social media posts, criticizing the government's foreign policy and its "continuous ceding of diplomatic space."
"India's foreign policy stems from the collective will of our people. It should be based on our history, geography, and spiritual values of Satya and Ahimsa," Gandhi said on X.
"What we are witnessing today is not policy, but the result of exploiting a compromised individual," he added.
Gandhi cited his February 11 speech in the Lok Sabha during the budget discussion, where he raised concerns about the compromise of India's energy security.
Dismissing the opposition's charges, the government said India had never relied on permission from any country to buy Russian oil, and the US waiver removed friction but did not define the country's policy, which was determined by the energy trilemma: affordability, availability, and sustainability.
The government's message to every Indian household was clear: the country's fuel supply was fully secure, and the government was continuously monitoring the situation and would act in the best interests of every citizen, according to a senior government official.
The BJP accused the Congress and Gandhi of spreading "fake news" about an oil shortage to create panic.
"Rahul Gandhi and the Congress are unhappy that India is acting with strategic restraint and clarity under Prime Minister Narendra Modi," BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said on X.
"Once again, India's strategic oil diplomacy under PM Narendra Modi is a success!" Bhandari added.
"This is a big embarrassment for anti-India Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, who were trying to create panic by spreading fake news about an 'oil shortage'," he said.
As the conflict in West Asia escalated, the US announced that it was issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil. US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said the "deliberately short-term measure" would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, as it only authorized transactions involving oil already stranded at sea.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it was "outrageous" that India should appear to require US approval for decisions such as imports.
India's sovereignty is not subject to foreign "clearance," Vijayan said on X.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said when the United States decided to allow India to purchase Russian oil for just 30 days, it raised a fundamental question: "Why should India need another country's approval to secure its own energy needs?"
"India's dignity in the international arena needs to be protected, and the nation's sovereignty and interests need to be defended," he said on X.
Kharge alleged in his post that India's strategic autonomy and national sovereignty were under "dire threat" due to "PM Modi being blackmailed on the Epstein Files and the Adani Case."
"The US's 'waiver' to allow us to buy Russian oil for 30 days clearly demonstrates that the Modi Government is continuously ceding diplomatic space," Kharge added.
"The slogan 'Main Desh Nahi Jhukne Doonga' was just a slogan to win elections. 140 Crore Indians are feeling betrayed. Modi ji has SURRENDERED everything," Kharge alleged.
In a post in Hindi on X, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, "Trump's new move: telling his friend in Delhi, 'You can get oil from President Vladimir Putin, how long will this American blackmail continue?'"
Pawan Khera, the head of the Congress's media and publicity department, said Gandhi's words had proven prophetic: "The US will decide from whom 'we should be purchasing oil?' Will the US grant us a license for importing oil?"
Last month, the US and India announced that they had prepared a framework for an interim trade agreement, and Trump issued an executive order removing the 25 per cent tariffs slapped on New Delhi, taking note of the latter's commitment to stop importing oil from Moscow and increase purchases of American energy products.
Left leaders questioned the Centre over the US announcement of a waiver to Indian refiners, terming it a "humiliation" of sovereign India. CPI MP P Santhosh Kumar in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India's foreign policy appeared to have "drifted away from its foundational principles of non-alignment."
He said at a time when the war against Iran by the US and Israel threatened to embroil West Asia into a wider and dangerous conflict, many across India were concerned that the country's foreign policy posture appeared to have drifted away from the principles of non-alignment, strategic autonomy, and respect for sovereignty.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas said on X, "US 'grants' India a 30-day waiver to buy stranded Russian oil amid Middle East chaos? Is this 'facilitation' or pure humiliation for a sovereign nation like India?"
