NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday said the only way to counter a “bully” was to “resist him forcefully”, after US president Donald Trump signed into law a legislation expanding sanctions on Russia and Iran and giving Washington new tariff powers targeting major buyers of Russian energy.AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh made the remarks in a post on X after Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 on Friday. The White House said the law authorises and expands sanctions, tariffs and prohibitions on Russia and extends existing sanctions on Iran.“The only way to counter a bully is to resist him forcefully,” Ramesh said.The legislation gives the US president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 per cent on goods from countries that meet specified criteria linked to purchases of Russian crude oil or natural gas and sanctions evasion. It also targets Russian officials, financial institutions, defence networks and the country’s so-called “shadow fleet”.The measure does not automatically impose a 100 per cent tariff on any specific country, with the law giving Trump discretion over its implementation.Earlier on Wednesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the threat of up to 100 per cent US tariffs on Indian goods showed the government’s foreign and trade policies had “miserably failed”. He said, “The threat of up to 100 per cent US tariffs on Indian goods shows how the Modi govt’s foreign and trade policies have miserably failed.” Kharge also claimed the government had agreed to a trade framework expanding US access to Indian agriculture, alleging it “mortgag[ed] the interests of our farmers”.The legislation comes as India continues to face questions over its purchases of Russian energy. The ministry of external affairs said New Delhi’s energy sourcing decisions are guided by national interest.MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal earlier said meeting the requirements of India’s 1.4 billion people remained an “imperative”.“When it comes to energy sourcing, it is based on our national interest. We have said that meeting the energy requirements of our 1.4 billion people is an imperative that we have to follow. And we continue to buy energy from diversified sources,” Jaiswal said.
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On the new US law, Jaiswal said India had already conveyed its concerns to senior levels of the US administration.“As we have stated, at senior levels of the US administration, we have conveyed the implications that this legislation could have on India’s energy security, for international energy markets, and for the overall bilateral relationship. I don’t have anything further to add at this point,” he said.The White House said Trump signed the legislation on September 18. The law extends the Iran Sanctions Act for five years and expands measures against Russia’s energy and financial sectors.
