Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has come out with a clarification after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sought to link him with the infamous Epstein Files.
Addressing a press conference, Puri clarified that his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein had nothing to do with the charges of sexual exploitation levelled against the late American financier.
"My boss at IPI knew Epstein, and I met him only on a few occasions, three or at max four times to be precise, as part of a delegation. Our interactions had nothing to do (with the crimes he is accused of)," he was quoted as saying, adding, "We talked about 'Make in India'."
The Union minister said Epstein called him two-faced and added that he had no interest in Epstein's activities.
"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, there are victims of this. Those victims have brought cases against people in authority. My interaction had nothing to do with that," he said.
He further said, "Congress leader Supriya Shrinate raised in an email - 'who introduced Hardeep Puri, I presume to Epstein...' These facts are known in the public domain. Three million emails have been released. I was in New York for eight years, from May 2009, when I joined as India's Ambassador to the UN. In 2017, I became minister. There are references to possibly three or four meetings in 8 years... I decided to tell Yuva Neta, Rahul Gandhi, and in the note to him, I told him that after I retired as India's Ambassador to the UN, a few months later, I was invited to join the International Peace Institute. I was not part of the IPI per se...As part of the delegation of the IPI or the ICM, I met Mr Epstein on a few occasions. The ICM was dealing with international issues, and Mr Epstein was not part of it."
