The Congress on Friday accused the Narendra Modi government of compromising India’s foreign policy after the United States announced a temporary 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to buy Russian oil, triggering a sharp political exchange ahead of the second half of Parliament’s Budget session beginning next week.Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the development showed how India’s foreign policy decisions were increasingly being shaped by external pressures rather than national interest. In a post on X, he said India’s foreign policy must reflect the collective will of its people and remain rooted in the country’s history, geography and values.“What we are witnessing today is not policy. It is the result of the exploitation of a compromised individual,” Rahul said, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The Congress leader also shared a video of his speech delivered in the Lok Sabha on February 11 during the discussion on the Union Budget, in which he had raised concerns about India’s energy security and warned that global powers could begin influencing the country’s oil purchases.“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,” Rahul had said during the debate.The remarks came hours after the United States said it would issue a short-term waiver permitting Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the waiver was a “deliberately short-term measure” meant to facilitate transactions involving oil shipments already stranded at sea.According to him, the 30-day relaxation would not provide any significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only covers cargoes that are already in transit.The Congress leadership echoed Rahul’s criticism and alleged that India was gradually losing diplomatic space in international affairs. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the language used in the US announcement raised concerns about India’s strategic autonomy.“The US proclamation to ‘allow’ and grant us permission to buy Russian oil as a temporary 30-day waiver clearly demonstrates that the Modi government is continuously ceding diplomatic space,” Kharge said in a social media post.He said such wording was generally used for sanctioned states and not for a country like India that has historically maintained an independent role in global diplomacy.At a press conference in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera also questioned the authority of the United States in determining India’s energy imports.Referring to the one-month waiver, Khera asked whether India now needed permission from Washington to import oil. He said the trade agreement between India and the United States had not yet been finalised, yet restrictions and conditions were already being discussed.Khera said Rahul had earlier cautioned that global powers could begin dictating India’s energy choices, and the latest development appeared to support that concern.He also referred to remarks made by US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau at the Raisina Dialogue, where Landau had said that the United States would prioritise the interests of its own people in trade negotiations. Khera said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar did not respond to those remarks during the event.