New Delhi: Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said he had met Jeffrey Epstein on “three or max four” occasions as part of a delegation linked to an international body, and asserted that his interactions had “nothing to do” with the offences for which the American financier was convicted.
Puri’s remarks came after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that the minister’s name figured in the ‘Epstein Files’ released in the United States.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP national headquarters, Puri said, “After I resigned as India’s ambassador to the UN, I was invited to join the International Peace Institute (IPI) a few months later. I was not part of the IPI per se. I was secretary general of the Independent Commission (ICM) on Multilateralism, set up in the IPI as a project.”
“My boss in the IPI, Terje Rod-Larsen, was the person who knew this particular infamous person Epstein and it is as part of a delegation of the IPI or the ICM that I met Epstein on a few occasions, three or max four,” he said, adding that the ICM dealt with international and thematic issues and that Epstein was not part of it.
Referring to the allegations against Epstein, Puri said there were victims who had brought cases against persons in authority, and maintained that his meetings were unrelated to any such activities.
Puri said he had informed Gandhi about the matter earlier. “On the Samvidhan Divas on November 26 last year, I was there at the central hall of the old Parliament building. After the event (organised to mark Samvidhan Divas) concluded, he (Rahul Gandhi) came up to me and winked at me in his style. I was also amused… He said ‘your name is in interesting places’. I asked him do you want to know what the facts are? Do you want a note on it?. So I sent him a note,” he said.
Alleging that Gandhi was indulging in “buffoonery”, Puri said, “This innuendo and smear campaign has given me a privilege and the opportunity to talk to you and place the facts before you.”
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