NEW DELHI: Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri lashed out at Lok Sabha leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi over Congress’s repeated attacks over the infamous Epstein files, saying he met Jeffrey Epstein only “three or four times” in a professional capacity as part of the Independent Commission on Multilateralism.Puri said the meetings took place before he joined the Union Cabinet in 2017 and are already in the public domain.“I want to remind you that today, during the Parliament session, my name was mentioned in the context of some developments elsewhere—the Epstein files. I just want to share some information… I want to clarify that these facts are all public,” Puri said at a press conference. He futher added: “Three million emails have been released, covering the period from May 2009, when I joined as India’s Ambassador to the UN in New York, until I became a minister in 2017. During this period, there are references to only three or four meetings, and my interactions were entirely professional”.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 Mr Epstein and it is as part of a delegation of the IPI or the ICM that I met Mr Epstein on a few occasions, three or maximum four,” he added.Taking a vile dig at “yuva neta” (young leader) Rahul Gandhi, Puri said: “Epstein Files, the Yuva Neta should know, are about wrongdoing, criminal offences. The Epstein Files are about charges that he had an island where he used to take people to indulge their sexual fantasies, charges of paedophilia, and there are victims of this. Those victims have brought cases against people in authority. My interaction had nothing to do with that.“Amid the criticism from the opposition over the India-US trade deal, Hardeep Puri said the pact was the best given the tumultuous global situation and that it was just a trailer. Further defending India’s economic growth and slamming Rahul Gandhi for echoing Trump’s “dead economy” claim, Puri said: “On the one hand, you have leaders who dedicate their lives to transforming the country and work around the clock, and then you have elements of buffoonery. I am choosing my words carefully, elements of buffoonery. I did not call him (Rahul Gandhi) a buffoon; I said elements of buffoonery.”The Union minister also took a dig at Gandhi’s conduct in the Lok Sabha, noting, “Today, Rahul ji was supposed to speak on the budget. While speaking, he started reading the Economic Survey. It’s as if there’s a pause. Hey, my brother, please read a little. It’s very important for India that we have international agreements and trade agreements.”Hardeep Puri’s remarks come after Rahul Gandhi alleged that he possesses verified information, saying that “there are Department of Justice files on Epstein naming Hardeep Puri and Anil Ambani.”“There’s an industrialist whose name is also mentioned, but why hasn’t he been arrested? Why are you linking him? The camel is somewhere, and the dog is barking in another city. What are you linking to what? I’ve already said, there are elements of vulgarity in this. It’s only for entertainment value,” Puri said on Rahul’s remark on Anil Ambani.“I have said that I will authenticate the data I have. There are Department of Justice files on Epstein files naming Hardeep Puri and Anil Ambani,” Gandhi told reporters at parliament premises.Speaking with reporters outside the new Parliament building, Gandhi claimed that the names of Union minister Hardeep Puri and businessman Anil Ambani have figured in the ‘Epstein Files’ released in the US.He said summons have also been issued in the ongoing case against Adani and the Indian government has not responded to them for the past 18 months.“There is direct pressure on PM Modi. Without any pressure, no prime minister of India would ever compromise on matters concerning the country’s farmers, data, energy security, and defence. No one would do this unless there is heavy pressure and a very chokehold over them,” Gandhi told reporters.In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, “India-US Trade Deal has mortgaged the future of 140 crore Indians. Youths’ jobs are at stake, farmers’ crops are on the negotiating table, and energy security is being surrendered to the terms of a foreign country.”“No Prime Minister surrenders like this without massive pressure. India understands – this deal is not one of equals, it is one of compulsion. Whether from the Epstein files or the Adani Case – Modi ji has sacrificed national interest in his bid to save power,” Gandhi said in his post.Meanwhile, on January 31, the ministry of external affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, strongly dismissed the references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2017 visit to Israel in an email purportedly part of the recently released Epstein Files.MEA spokesperson had dubbed the reference as the “trashy ruminations” of a convicted criminal.
