‘What we are witnessing today is not policy': Rahul Gandhi after US' waiver to India for Russian oil

In a post on social media, Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi said that India’s foreign policy emerges from the collective will of its people, and should be rooted in its history, geography, and spiritual ethos. He was referring to the US announcing a 30-day waiver for India to procure oil from Russia, something Trump and his administration had rebuked India for months, and had imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff. 

“What we are witnessing today is not policy. It is the result of the exploitation of a compromised individual,” he said.

Congress social media chairperson, Supriya Shrinate, asked: “Who the hell is America to ‘ALLOW’ a sovereign nation like ours to do anything?”

Congress MP KC Venugopal said it is "deeply humiliating" for India's sovereignty and international standing for it to be needing a waiver from US to purchase oil from a time-tested partner like Russia. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of handing India's "energy sovereignty on a platter to other countries". "India must take a strong independent stance and decide what is in supreme national interest - not allow other countries to dictate our foreign policy and force us to beg them for permission," he added. 

Earlier in February, Gandhi had asked if the US will now decide where India will buy oil from. He said India’s energy security was “gone”. “Let’s talk about energy. Energy security is gone. Now the United States will decide who we buy oil from? The United States will come and tell us we cannot buy oil from so and so, Russia, Iran, whoever they want. They will decide. Our Prime Minister will not decide. Please understand. They will monitor, they will keep watch, meaning they will look and if India buys oil from anyone they don’t want, they will punish us. And they will take our tariffs right back to 50 per cent,” he said. 

US’ 30-DAY WAIVER TO INDIA

The US government has announced a temporary 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil amid rising tensions with Iran. The waiver, issued by Treasury Department Scott Bessent, aims to maintain stability in global energy markets and is limited to transactions up to early April 2026.

Bessent said the waiver is part of Trump's energy agenda, which has led to record levels of oil and gas production. He added that the measure is short-term and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, as it only covers oil already stranded at sea.

The waiver applies only to Russian oil loaded on vessels as of March 5, with delivery to Indian ports before April 4. Purchasers must be entities organised under Indian law. The general licence does not authorise any other transactions prohibited by other executive orders, including those involving Iran or Iranian-origin goods and services.

Bessent said the waiver will help ease pressure caused by Iran's actions affecting global energy supplies.