Hardeep Puri hits back at Rahul Gandhi over Epstein files remarks
A sharp political exchange erupted on Thursday after Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri strongly rejected allegations by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi linking his name in the recently released Epstein files to India’s trade agreement with the United States.
Speaking to NDTV, Puri dismissed Gandhi’s claims as baseless and accused him of misrepresenting facts. “Two meetings are not guilt by association. I come out smelling of roses from this. I wasn’t even part of the government then,” Puri said, referring to his past interactions with disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Puri clarified that the meetings were work-related and had been arranged for him. “I didn’t seek meetings with Epstein … they were set up,” he said, adding that he felt “a sense of unease” during those interactions. He emphasised that he never met Epstein in private and had no involvement in the financier’s activities.
The controversy began after Rahul Gandhi, speaking in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “sold out Bharat Mata” through a disadvantageous trade and tariff agreement with the US. Later, Gandhi claimed he had verified that Puri and businessman Anil Ambani were mentioned in US Department of Justice files related to Epstein.
Gandhi argued that Puri’s alleged mention in the files created “direct pressure” on Prime Minister Modi, influencing India’s position in trade negotiations. “Without any pressure no Prime Minister of India would ever compromise on matters concerning the country’s farmers, data, energy security, and defence,” Gandhi said, suggesting that “heavy pressure” was behind the agreement.
Puri responded by defending the India–US trade framework, describing it as part of an ongoing process and crucial for a country where a significant portion of GDP is linked to the external sector. He accused Gandhi of failing to read the agreement properly and of drawing unwarranted conclusions.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier dismissed references to Prime Minister Modi’s 2017 visit to Israel in an email reportedly included in the Epstein files. On January 31, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described the references as “trashy ruminations” by a convicted criminal and said they deserved to be dismissed with contempt.
The political row follows the US Department of Justice’s recent release of a large tranche of records related to Jeffrey Epstein under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. According to US officials, the disclosure includes more than three million pages of documents, over 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, some of which had been withheld from an earlier release.
The law mandates public access to government files relating to Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein was found dead in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was officially ruled a suicide.
The exchange has added a fresh dimension to domestic political tensions, with the opposition pressing its allegations and the government firmly rejecting any suggestion of impropriety or external pressure on India’s trade negotiations.
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