The United States’ decision to grant a 30-day waiver to allow India to buy Russian oil amid the conflict in West Asia has drawn strong criticism from the opposition. On Friday, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi attacked the move and asked “who are they supposed to dictate?
“… I want to ask BJP and RSS, how dare Trump’s minister give us time to buy oil? Who are they to dictate to us? Why are they silent on this? This is a matter of our country’s sovereignty. Buying oil from others should be entirely at our own discretion,” Owaisi said, ANI reported.
On Thursday, the United States Treasury Department said it had granted India a 30-day waiver to buy Russian oil. New Delhi is looking for ways to overcome the oil supply crisis caused by the conflict in West Asia.
What is the 30 day exception?
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a “30-day exemption” in a post on X, saying it would allow oil to continue flowing into the global market.
“To keep oil flowing to the global market, the Finance Ministry is issuing a temporary 30-day exemption to allow Indian refiners to buy Russian crude,” he wrote.
The Treasury license allows crude oil or petroleum products of Russian origin loaded on any vessel on or before 01:01 March 5 to be delivered to India by 00:01 EST on April 4.
what happened before
The Trump administration’s 30-day exemption comes after Washington recently lifted a 25% tariff on Indian exports to the US as part of an interim trade deal finalized in February.
The US claimed that India stopped importing Russian oil as part of a trade deal, but Delhi never accepted this claim.
Not just Asaduddin Owaisi – earlier in the day, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge also came down heavily on the US decision to grant India an exemption.
Kharge criticizes Trump’s 30-day ‘permission’ for India
In X’s post, Mallikarjun Kharge strongly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he was being “blackmailed” by the US. Recalling PM Modi’s statement, “Main desh nahi jhukne doonga” (he would not let the nation bow down), Kharge called it a mere slogan to win elections.
He argued that words like “allow” and “permit” are used for sanctioned states, not equal partners in the global order.
The conflict in West Asia entered its seventh day on Friday, March 6 – following US and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei along with other key figures in the Gulf nation on February 28. In retaliation, Tehran responded with counterstrikes targeting US military bases and other Israeli assets across the region, ANI reported.
