Delhi, February 11: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday, February 11, firmly rebutted charges levelled by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi linking him to the infamous Epstein Files and said he met the convicted s*x offender as part of an International Peace Institute (IPI) delegation. Puri's clarification came after Rahul Gandhi's explosive Lok Sabha address. The minister was speaking at a press conference organised at BJP Headquarters in Delhi.

According to Puri, his interactions with Epstein had nothing to do with the charges against the late American financier. He said that he met Epstein when he was part of a commission under the IPI. "My boss at IPI Terje Rod-Larsen knew Epstein and I met him only on a few occasions, 3 or at max 4 times to be precise, as part of a delegation. Our interactions had nothing to do (with the crimes he is accused of)," Hardeep Puri said. Epstein Files Video: List of Unverified Viral Clips Linked to Jeffrey Epstein.

Hardeep Puri Hits Back at Rahul Gandhi

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"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, related to the Independent Commission on Multilateralism and other international work,” Hardeep Puri said.

"In eight years, there are just two references and one email exchange (with Epstein) because these people introduced me to him," he clarified. "The Epstein files Rahul Gandhi should know are about wrongdoing criminal offenses the epsilon files are about charges that he had an island where he used to take people to indulge in indulge their sexual fantasies charges of paedophilia and there are victims of this those victims have brought cases against the people in authority. My interaction has nothing to do with this," he further added. Epstein Files: US Justice Department Releases Largest Batch Yet of Jeffrey Epstein Documents, Says It Totals 3 Million Pages.

“In the email exchange, also copied to Epstein, I am telling Reed Hoffman, former LinkedIn boss, that I am now convinced more than ever that India today presents a terrific opportunity for internet based economic activity. He read out another email exchange from 2014, “I had no interest in Epstein’s activities. For them, I was not the ‘right person’…Epstein called me two-faced. Rahul should read the emails,” he added.

The clarification comes after remarks by Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, where he claimed that Hardeep Singh Puri’s name appeared in the Epstein files, documents that outline the convicted s*x offender’s alleged criminal activities and reference his associations with prominent public figures, politicians and celebrities.

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