Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that India's foreign policy is now the "result of the exploitation of a compromised individual," his barb at Prime Minister Narendra Modi coming against the backdrop of Washington announcing that New Delhi can buy crude oil from Russia for a month without fear of penal tariffs.
His accusation against Modi was echoed by Congress party leaders and also AAP chief and Delhi ex-chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“India’s foreign policy emerges from the collective will of our people. It should be rooted in our history, our geography, and our spiritual ethos based on Satya and Ahimsa,” Rahul wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“What we are witnessing today is not policy. It is the result of the exploitation of a compromised individual,” he added.
He quoted a previous post with a video of him speaking in the Lok Sabha about India’s energy security being compromised. “The US will tell us who we can or cannot buy oil from – If it's Russia or Iran, the US will decide. But our Prime Minister will not decide,” he had said.
The statement came at a time when the US said it was issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil amid the escalating conflict with Iran.
“President Trump's energy agenda has resulted in oil and gas production reaching the highest levels ever recorded. To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday.
Congress MP Venugopal also criticised the Centre over the US waiver, calling it a humiliating development for India's sovereignty and international standing.
In a post on X, Venugopal alleged that instead of standing up to the US dictating terms, Prime Minister Modi was compromising India's energy sovereignty.
He said it was deeply humiliating that India needed a US “waiver” to purchase oil from a long-standing partner like Russia. Venugopal added that India must take a strong and independent stance in deciding what is in its supreme national interest, rather than allowing other countries to dictate its foreign policy or force it to seek permission for such decisions.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged in his post that India's strategic autonomy and national sovereignty is under dire threat “because PM Modi is getting blackmailed on Epstein Files and Adani Case”.
“The US proclamation to ‘allow’ and grant us ‘permission’ to buy Russian oil, as a 'waiver for 30-days' clearly demonstrates the Modi Government is continuously ceding diplomatic space,” he wrote.
“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,” the Congress chief said in his lengthy post.
“Now, the US grants India a “temporary 30-day waiver” and “allows” Indian refineries to buy Russian oil. From trade to oil, from data to India's long-term relationships with friendly countries, Modi ji SURRENDERED it all.”
Congress MP Manish Tewari also asked if India required permission from the US to decide on its energy sources.
Slamming the US for its “non-imperial arrogance,” the Congress leader wrote, “Issuing a 30 day waiver’- The sanctimonious language of condensation drips with neo- imperial arrogance. Are we a banana republic that we need the permission of the US to secure our energy security imperatives?”
Tewari added, “The silence of an otherwise overly loquacious government is deafening. Does it not understand what sovereignty means?”
Earlier, Rahul questioned PM Modi's silence on the sinking of the Iranian warship and alleged the current government for undoing foreign policy built over the last seven decades.
“Who is America to grant India permission to buy oil from Russia? Why does India even need permission from America?” AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal wrote in Hindi on X.
“In the past few months, the countrymen have watched in great anguish as, one after another, at every step, you have bowed before Trump, and you didn't even have the courage to speak up in front of him.
“Mr. Modi, what exactly is this compulsion of yours that has you bowing before Trump? India is a country thousands of years old. India is a great nation of 1.4 billion people. India has produced one brave warrior after another. Never before has India bowed its head like this before any country,” he wrote.
“Never in Indian history has India's leadership been this weak. If you truly have some compulsion that Trump is exploiting, then for the sake of India and Indian interests, please resign. But do not bow India's head like this. All countrymen are in deep pain,” Kejriwal added.