Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday issued a detailed clarification after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi referred to his name in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein files during a speech in the Lok Sabha. Rejecting any insinuation of wrongdoing, Puri stated that his limited interactions with the convicted sex offender were strictly professional and took place in an official capacity.

Addressing a press conference shortly after Gandhi’s remarks in Parliament, Puri said, “I met Jeffrey Epstein only on three or four occasions, and that too as part of a delegation. My interactions had absolutely nothing to do with the charges he is accused of.”

The minister explained that the meetings occurred during his association with the International Peace Institute (IPI) and while serving in diplomatic roles. “My boss at the IPI knew Epstein. I was part of discussions connected to the Independent Commission on Multilateralism and other international initiatives. These were formal and professional engagements,” he said.

Puri emphasized that he had no personal or social relationship with Epstein. “I had no interest in Epstein’s activities. For them, I was not the ‘right person’,” he remarked, adding that Epstein had once described him as “two-faced.” “Rahul Gandhi should read the emails before making insinuations,” Puri said.

Highlighting documentary evidence, the minister noted that a vast number of official communications had already been made public. “Three million emails have been released covering the period from May 2009, when I joined as India’s Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, until 2017, when I became a minister. In that entire record, there are references to only three or four meetings with Epstein,” he stated.

He reiterated that all such interactions were linked to multilateral discussions and global policy initiatives. “Every engagement was professional in nature and connected to international institutional work. There is no basis for any other interpretation,” Puri asserted.