NEW DELHI: The opposition leaders including those from Congress, TMC and NCP (SP) shared picture of petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s meeting with sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein demanding answers over the “private meeting”.The opposition leaders targeted Puri’s earlier statement where he had said that he met Epstein as a “part of a delegation”.Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate questioned his claim that he had never met Epstein “one-on-one”.“Didn’t Hardeep Puri say he had never met Epstein one-on-one? What kind of people does Modi like and chooses to have around him?Do you need any more proof – why RSS and the right-wing can never ever respect and treat women as equals?” she questioned.“Epstein Paaji told us he only met Epstein as part of a delegation 3-4 times. Guess the other delegates were hiding under the table in these 2 photos, Paaji,” TMC MP Mahua Moitra said, sharing a video statement by the minister from earlier this year.Terming the pictures “damning”, NCP (SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande demanded a clarity on the matter.“These are damning photos. Former Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri must answer as to why he was meeting Jeffrey Epstein, even in an Ambassadorial capacity. I am given to understand that the Government of India will try and justify this engagement as ‘diplomatic necessity.’ However, the terms and content of these disussions must now be made public. I am certainly hopeful that Ambassador Puri was not aware of any of the horrors of Epstein Island. I urge him to clarify his stance on the matter,” he said.Shiv Sena (UBT) MP questioned “whose message is he carrying in the meeting” as he shared the picture.“Modiji, one minister Hardeep Puri is meeting Jeffrey Epstein alone? Whose message is he carrying in the meeting? This is the beginning, watch ahead to see what’s about to happen? RSS regime change will happen! Jai Hind!” he said.
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What Puri had said
Puri had said in February that he met Jeffrey Epstein “three or maximum four” times in a professional capacity as part of a delegation linked to the Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM), a project set up at the International Peace Institute (IPI).Puri said the meetings took place after he resigned as India’s ambassador to the United Nations and before he joined the Union Cabinet in 2017. He said his interactions with Epstein were entirely professional and had nothing to do with the criminal allegations against the disgraced financier.“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,” Puri had said.