CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai on Saturday criticised the Union government after the United States "permitted" India to purchase Russian crude oil for 30 days, stating that the development reflected a loss of India’s independent foreign policy and amounted to a “humiliation” for the country.
He alleged that the development confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “mortgaged everything from trade agreements to crude oil purchases” to the United States.
Calling the situation “shameful”, the TNCC president condemned what he described as the Prime Minister’s “subservient approach” and said the government’s actions had forced Indians to “bow their heads in embarrassment”.
Recalling India’s foreign policy history, Selvaperunthagai said that since 1947, the country had maintained a unique and independent foreign policy. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had brought together non-aligned nations to form a bloc that opposed imperialist powers, he said.
Hitting out at the PM-Modi-led government for 'surrendering' the nation's sovereignty, Selvaperunthagai recalled India's disadvantaged position on tariff issues earlier, when Trump imposed a 25% reciprocal tariff and an additional 25% penalty tariff on India for importing crude oil from Russia. How many times can India be forced to change its stance according to the whims and fancies of the US, and why PM Modi is allowing this, the TNCC chief asked, referring to the US changing the goalposts and attacking the BJP-led Union government for "abject surrender."