CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday accused the BJP-led union government of compromising India’s long-standing tradition of strategic autonomy and an independent foreign policy. He sought to know why India needed another country’s approval to secure its own energy needs.
The accusations were made in the context of the US issuing a temporary 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil, amid escalating tensions with Iran, and the sinking of the unarmed Iranian warship IRIS Dena off the Sri Lanka coast by the US soon after it took part in the international fleet review 2026 naval exercise hosted by India in Visakhapatnam.
Stalin said the country’s dignity, sovereignty and national interests must be firmly protected in the international arena.
In a post on X, the CM posed the question, “When the United States decides to allow India to purchase Russian oil for just 30 days, it raises a fundamental question. Why should India need another country’s approval to secure its own energy needs?”
Referring to the sinking of the Iranian warship, Stalin said when a ship that came to India as part of a multinational exercise meets such a fate, India cannot appear to be silent or passive. “India’s dignity in the international arena needs to be protected, and the nation’s sovereignty and interests need to be defended,” he added.