Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said that India’s sovereignty was being undermined by what he described as growing United States influence over the country’s economic decisions.
In a statement, Siddaramaiah referenced reports quoting US deputy secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent, who recently said the United States would “allow” India to buy Russian oil for a limited period.
According to the chief minister, the language itself reflected an unacceptable situation for a sovereign nation.
“It is deeply humiliating that the United States is now openly saying it will ‘allow’ India to buy Russian oil for 30 days,” he said. “No foreign government should ever be in a position to grant or deny India permission to run its economy. Yet this is the situation India finds itself in under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
The chief minister said India appeared increasingly dependent on Washington and suggested that the country’s global posture had weakened.
“Today it increasingly feels as if India’s capital is not New Delhi, but Washington DC,” Siddaramaiah said. “Donald Trump speaks like the acting Prime Minister of India, while Narendra Modi appears reduced to a puppet who merely follows instructions. A Prime Minister of a sovereign republic cannot allow such a situation to arise.”
Referring to recent geopolitical developments, Siddaramaiah said the United States had repeatedly influenced India’s decisions on energy imports. “This pattern is now impossible to ignore,” he said. “Trump repeatedly claims credit for the Operation Sindoor ceasefire, yet we have heard no strong rebuttal from PM Modi. The United States tells India not to buy Iranian oil, and the Modi government complies. Pressure is applied on Russian oil imports -- India reduces them. Now the United States announces that Indian refineries are ‘allowed’ to buy Russian oil for only 30 days.”
{{/usCountry}}Referring to recent geopolitical developments, Siddaramaiah said the United States had repeatedly influenced India’s decisions on energy imports. “This pattern is now impossible to ignore,” he said. “Trump repeatedly claims credit for the Operation Sindoor ceasefire, yet we have heard no strong rebuttal from PM Modi. The United States tells India not to buy Iranian oil, and the Modi government complies. Pressure is applied on Russian oil imports -- India reduces them. Now the United States announces that Indian refineries are ‘allowed’ to buy Russian oil for only 30 days.”
{{/usCountry}}Siddaramaiah also alleged that investigations involving associates of the Prime Minister had created vulnerabilities that could be used to exert pressure on India.
“This continuous and meek surrender to the United States makes our earlier doubts look increasingly true,” he said. “The Adani investigations and the Epstein files — where Narendra Modi’s closest allies are entangled — appear to have been weaponised by Donald Trump and used as a tool to blackmail India. So much for the hollow claims of making India a ‘Vishwaguru’.”
He also criticised the ideological positions taken by the ruling party and its affiliates. “Ironically, while RSS-BJP leaders keep demanding that the words ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ be removed from the Constitution, under their rule it is ‘sovereignty’ itself that appears to have been removed in practice,” Siddaramaiah said.
Calling for a more independent approach to foreign policy, the chief minister said India must assert its own voice globally.
“India must speak with its own voice in the world,” he said. “At a time when the world is torn by war and bloodshed, India must show moral leadership and independent thinking, guided by our own history.”
Siddaramaiah concluded his statement by questioning Modi’s ability to safeguard the country’s interests. “Narendra Modi has demonstrated again and again that he is incompetent and incapable of defending and upholding India’s sovereignty and dignity,” he said. “For the good of the nation, he must step down.”