Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he is scared of Donald Trump, after the US President claimed that India has assured him to stop purchasing oil from Russia.
Rahul Gandhi objected to Donald Trump’s claim and blamed the central government to confirm his point.
Listing out recent incidents, Rahul Gandhi said, “PM Modi is scared of Trump,” he said, adding, “1. (PM Modi) allows Trump to take the decision and announce that India will not buy Russian oil. 2. Keeps sending congratulatory messages despite being repeatedly ignored. 3. Finance Minister’s visit to the US cancelled. 4. Did not attend Sharm el-Sheikh. 5. Did not oppose him on Operation Sindoor.”
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also questioned Prime Minister Modi’s silence, alleging that the Prime Minister has “handed over important decisions to America.” Jairam Ramesh questioned the Prime Minister’s silence on Donald Trump’s repeated claims of bringing about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
He said, “On May 10, 2025, at 5:37 pm IST, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be the first to announce that India has stopped Operation Vermilion. Subsequently, President Trump claimed 51 times in 5 different countries that he had intervened to stop Operation Vermilion by using tariffs and trade as weapons of pressure. Yet our Prime Minister remained silent.”
This statement comes after the statement given by the US President on Wednesday (local time) in which he said that Prime Minister Modi has assured him that India will stop buying oil from Russia. He called it a “major step” in efforts to increase global pressure on Moscow.
Trump made the comments during a joint news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel in the Oval Office, where both highlighted the administration’s efforts to curb violent crime.
Responding to a question by news agency ANI on whether he considered India a reliable partner, Trump said, “Yes, sure. He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is my friend. We have a very good relationship. I was not happy with the fact that India is buying oil. And he assured me today that he will not buy oil from Russia. This is a big milestone. Now we have to force China to do the same.”
Trump also criticized India’s past oil imports from Russia, saying, “We were not happy with buying oil from Russia, because it allowed Russia to continue this ridiculous war in which they have lost a million and a half people. Russia has lost a million and a half people, most of them soldiers.”
Earlier, India had defended its oil imports from Moscow as essential for economic stability, while Washington had been urging New Delhi to diversify its energy sources.
Donald Trump had imposed additional tariffs of 25 per cent on Indian goods, claiming that India’s import of Russian oil, directly or indirectly, poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States.
India has also said that the India-Pakistan ceasefire was agreed upon between the DGMOs of the two countries and no other country had any role in it.
