New Delhi: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has given a befitting reply to the serious allegations made by Rahul Gandhi. During his speech in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi had taken Puri’s name while referring to the Epstein files and linked him to Jeffrey Epstein. In the press conference, Puri termed these allegations as baseless and clarified that their meetings were completely professional.
Hardeep Puri said that he had met the notorious American financier Jeffrey Epstein only 3 or maximum 4 times. These meetings took place during the peace delegation of the International Peace Institute (IPI).
He told, "My boss at IPI, Terje Rode-Larsen, knew Epstein. I met him as a member of the delegation. These meetings have no connection with the sexual crimes against Epstein."
Puri further said that from 2009 when he was India’s UN Ambassador in New York, till 2017 when he became a minister, the US Justice Department has made public more than 30 lakh emails and documents.
There is mention of only 3-4 meetings in these. All the talks focused on multilateralism, independent commission and international issues. He said, "There have been only two references and one email exchange in eight years, because it was the IPI people who introduced me to them."
The minister read out part of an email in which he was speaking to former LinkedIn chief Reid Hoffman about the prospects of India’s internet economy. She said Epstein had called her “two-faced” because he was not interested in her activities.
Puri stressed that the Epstein files relate to criminal cases, pedophilia and incidents on his island that have nothing to do with him.
Puri took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi and said that he should check the facts before making allegations. He called it a political drama and said that all the information is available in the public domain. Let us tell you, Epstein was accused of sex trafficking in 2019 and he died in jail.
