India under fire after US says it 'allowed' Russian oil purchases

• US grants India 30-day Russian oil waiver.
• Congress says Washington dictates India’s oil choices.
• Tamil Nadu CM questions India seeking foreign approval.

KARACHI: India’s Narendra Modi-led government has come under renewed criticism from opposition parties and sections of the public after the United States said it had temporarily allowed Indian refiners to buy Russian oil stranded at sea, The News reported.

The criticism centres on a statement by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said in a post on X early Friday that the Treasury Department was issuing a 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil in order to keep oil flowing into the global market.

Opposition parties argued that the move made India appear dependent on Washington’s approval. In a post on X, the Congress party said the Modi government had led the country "to a situation where the United States is now deciding where India can buy oil from and where it cannot".

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.

MK Stalin, chief minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, questioned why India should appear to seek approval from any foreign government to meet its energy needs. 

"Equally troubling is the sinking of the unarmed Iranian warship IRIS Dena by the United States soon after it participated in the International Fleet Review 2026 naval exercise hosted by India in Visakhapatnam. When a ship that came to India as part of a multinational exercise meets such a fate, India cannot appear silent or passive," he added. 

Bessent further added, "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. India is an essential partner of the United States, and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of US oil. This stop-gap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage."

Journalist Rana Ayyub added with America’s permission, "we now sound like an American colony".

India was the top buyer of Russian seaborne crude after Moscow's 2022 Ukraine invasion, but in January its refiners started to reduce purchases under pressure from Washington. Cutting Russian oil purchases helped New Delhi avoid 25 per cent tariffs and clinch an interim trade deal with the US.

India is vulnerable to energy supply shocks, with crude stocks covering only about 25 days of demand. India receives about 40% of its oil imports from the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz. 

According to The Guardian, which quoted Reuters, a source directly involved with the matter said India had approached Trump’s administration seeking approval to buy Russian crude imports because of the Iran conflict.