White House: 'Good Actors' India 'Temporarily Permitted' to Buy Some Russian Crude

New Delhi: In a controversial statement that is bound to again embarrass the Modi government, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday (March 10) reiterated that the Trump administration has "temporarily permitted" India to resume limited Russian oil imports. She clarified the Treasury Department's decision was because “our allies in India have been good actors”.

Leavitt echoed the language of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had earlier stated that India stopped buying Russian oil “when we ordered them”. “Indians have been very good actors, they stopped buying Russian Oil when we ordered them, now we are allowing them to accept Russian Oil to create supply," Bessent had told FOX News.

Addressing the media on the waiver allowing India to import Russian crude oil, Leavitt stated on Tuesday:

"The President and the Secretary of the Treasury and the whole national security team came to this decision because our allies in India have been good actors and have previously stopped buying sanctioned Russian oil. As we work to appease this temporary gap of oil supply around the world because of the Iranians, we have temporarily permitted them to accept that Russian oil."

She added that the US approved this decision as this Russian oil coming to India was "already at sea" and will "not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government." The emergency waiver comes as the US-Israel attack on Iran continues to choke global energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing crude prices to high levels.

While the waiver provides immediate relief to the Indian economy, the language used by the Trump administration will be seen in India as deeply demeaning to the country. A 28-year-old press secretary describing a sovereign nation of 1.4 billion people as “good actors” is bound to be viewed by most Indians as highly patronising on part of the US, which needs a strong rebuttal from the Modi government.

Leavitt’s use of the word "permitted", and Bessent’s even blunter comment that India stopped buying oil "when we ordered them" directly undermines India’s long-standing foreign policy pillar of strategic autonomy. It implies that India’s foreign policy is not the result of its own national interest and decided by the Modi government, but rather as being “ordered” and “permitted” by Washington.

For PM Modi, who has built a political brand of being a strong leader who doesn't bow to foreign pressure, the public reiteration from Washington that India is operating under US "orders" is a significant blow to his domestic standing and image. His silence on the killing of the Iranian Supreme Leader’s killing or the torpedoing of an Iranian vessel in waters close to Indian shores has further strengthened the impression of a leader who is unable to stand up to the US.

Writing in The Tribune, retired diplomat Vivek Katju asked, “Is the prospect of annoying the US paralysing India’s moves?” Opposition leaders had also questioned PM Modi over his silence, pointing out that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s comments erode the claim of an independent foreign policy.

President Donald Trump had previously raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50% as a penalty for New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian crude, accusing India of "fueling the war in Ukraine." In February 2026, a thaw occurred where the U.S. reduced tariffs to 18% after India committed to gradually halting Russian oil imports and purchasing $500 billion in American energy and technology products.

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