Cong renews attack over Bessent's ‘permission’ remark on Russian oil

The Congress on Saturday intensified its attack on the Narendra Modi government over remarks by US officials suggesting that Washington had allowed India to purchase Russian oil, calling the situation humiliating for the country.

The Opposition party’s criticism came after the United States said it had given “permission” to India to buy Russian oil that is already on ships at sea in order to ease global supply pressures amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had effectively issued a “certificate” to the Modi government for following US President Donald Trump’s directives.

“Does anything more need to be said about how cowardly and compromised the self-proclaimed 56-inch chest has become?” Ramesh said in a post on X, sharing a video clip of Bessent’s remarks.

In the clip, Bessent says the US had allowed India to purchase Russian oil “to ease the temporary gap of oil around the world”.

The BJP-led government rejected the Opposition’s criticism, with an unnamed senior government functionary asserting that India has never depended on permission from any country to buy Russian oil.

The official said the US waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian crude only removes friction in transactions and does not define India’s energy policy.

Russian oil continued to flow into India even after the United States objected and imposed sanctions, the functionary said, adding that adjustments in oil trade under sanctions regimes had occurred in the past as well, including during the Congress-led government in 2013.

The controversy follows a statement by Bessent during an interview with Fox Business on Friday. “The world is very well supplied in oil. Yesterday, the Treasury agreed to let our allies in India start buying Russian oil that was already on the water,” Bessent said.

“The Indians had been very good actors. We had asked them to stop buying sanctioned Russian oil this fall. They did. They were going to substitute it with US oil. But to ease the temporary gap of oil around the world, we have given them permission to accept Russian oil,” he said.

Bessent also suggested that Washington may consider easing restrictions on other Russian oil supplies in order to stabilise global energy markets. He said there were “hundreds of millions of sanctioned barrels” of crude currently at sea and that releasing them into the market could help address supply pressures.

Several other officials in the Trump administration echoed similar remarks. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Washington was allowing India to purchase Russian oil already on ships around South Asia so that the crude could be refined and quickly pushed into the global market.

“We are allowing our friends in India to take oil that is already on ships, refine it, and move those barrels into the market quickly,” Wright said in a post on X.

In an interview with ABC News Live, Wright said the measure was aimed at easing short-term supply pressures as global oil markets reacted to disruptions linked to the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

He added that floating Russian oil storage had accumulated in the region and that encouraging India to buy those cargoes would help release supply into the global market more quickly.

Earlier this week, the US announced a temporary 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil cargoes that were already in transit.

“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,” Bessent had said.

The development comes months after the Trump administration imposed 25 per cent punitive tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian crude, arguing that such imports were helping finance Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.

However, last month the two countries announced a framework for an interim trade agreement, after which Trump signed an executive order removing the tariffs. The order cited India’s commitment to reduce or halt direct and indirect imports of Russian energy and increase purchases of American energy products.

The BJP had earlier described the waiver as a success of the Modi government’s “strategic oil diplomacy” and said it exposed criticism from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Opposition as misplaced.

The Congress, however, maintained that the language used by US officials suggested India’s energy policy was being dictated by Washington and demanded a clarification from the government.

With PTI inputs