A fresh political storm erupted on Thursday after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being “frightened” of US President Donald Trump, alleging that the Prime Minister had allowed the American leader to dictate India’s stance on Russian oil imports and international diplomacy.
Rahul Gandhi’s sharp remarks came a day after Trump publicly stated that PM Modi had assured him that India would stop purchasing oil from Russia, a move the former US President hailed as “a big step” to increase pressure on Moscow amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Gandhi wrote, “PM Modi is frightened of Trump. Allows Trump to decide and announce that India will not buy Russian oil. Keeps sending congratulatory messages despite repeated snubs. Cancelled the Finance Minister's visit to America. Skipped Sharm el-Sheikh. Doesn’t contradict him on Operation Sindoor.”
Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh also launched a scathing attack on the government, questioning India’s silence over U.S. statements on sensitive defence operations. “At 5:37 PM IST on May 10, 2025, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the very first to announce that India has halted Operation Sindoor. Subsequently, President Trump has claimed 51 times in 5 different countries that he had intervened to stop Operation Sindoor by using tariffs and trade as his weapon of pressure. Yet our PM kept silent,” Ramesh said on X.
Continuing his criticism, Ramesh added, “Now President Trump has declared yesterday that Mr. Modi has assured him that India will not import oil from Russia. Mr. Modi appears to have outsourced key decisions to America. The 56-inch chest has shrunk and shrivelled.”
Trump’s remarks during a press interaction at the Oval Office on Wednesday reignited the controversy. “He (Modi) is a friend of mine, we have a great relationship… we were not happy with him buying oil from Russia because that let Russia continue on with this ridiculous war where they’ve lost a million and a half people,” Trump told reporters. “I was not happy that India was buying oil, and (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That’s a big step. Now we’ve got to get China to do the same thing,” he added.
According to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India is currently the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels after China. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Western sanctions and reduced European demand led to discounted Russian crude, which saw India’s Russian oil imports surge from under 1% to nearly 40% of its total crude intake.
