New Delhi:Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday stated he had met Jeffrey Epstein on “three or max 4” events as a part of a delegation linked to a world physique, and asserted that his interactions had “nothing to do” with the offences for which the American financier was convicted.
Puri’s remarks got here after Chief of Opposition within the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that the minister’s identify figured within the ‘Epstein Information’ launched in america.
Addressing a press convention on the BJP nationwide headquarters, Puri stated, “After I resigned as India’s ambassador to the UN, I used to be invited to hitch the Worldwide Peace Institute (IPI) just a few months later. I used to be not a part of the IPI per se. I used to be secretary common of the Unbiased Fee (ICM) on Multilateralism, arrange within the IPI as a mission.”
“My boss within the IPI, Terje Rod-Larsen, was the one that knew this explicit notorious individual Epstein and it’s as a part of a delegation of the IPI or the ICM that I met Epstein on just a few events, three or max 4,” he stated, including that the ICM handled worldwide and thematic points and that Epstein was not a part of it.
Referring to the allegations towards Epstein, Puri stated there have been victims who had introduced circumstances towards individuals in authority, and maintained that his conferences had been unrelated to any such actions.
Puri stated he had knowledgeable Gandhi concerning the matter earlier. “On the Samvidhan Divas on November 26 final 12 months, I used to be there on the central corridor of the outdated Parliament constructing. After the occasion (organised to mark Samvidhan Divas) concluded, he (Rahul Gandhi) got here as much as me and winked at me in his type. I used to be additionally amused… He stated ‘your identify is in attention-grabbing locations’. I requested him do you wish to know what the information are? Would you like a observe on it?. So I despatched him a observe,” he stated.
Alleging that Gandhi was indulging in “buffoonery”, Puri stated, “This innuendo and smear marketing campaign has given me a privilege and the chance to speak to you and place the information earlier than you.”
