Hardeep Singh Puri denies links to Epstein case, says interactions were 'limited and official'

Speaking to reporters hours after Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in Parliament, Puri said he had met Epstein only “on a few occasions as part of a delegation” and had exchanged just one email with him.

“Just three or four references out of three million emails. I met Epstein on a few occasions as part of a delegation and exchanged just one email. Our interactions had nothing to do with the crimes he is accused of. We talked about ‘Make in India’,” the minister said.

Puri added that his primary engagement at the time was with LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, whom he had invited to India.

He also claimed that he had “no interest in Epstein’s activities” and said Epstein himself had described him as “two-faced” in the emails.

“For them, I was not the right person,” Puri said, urging Rahul Gandhi to read the full correspondence before making allegations.

This comes after Rahul Gandhi referred to US files on Epstein that reportedly mentioned Puri and businessman Anil Ambani.

His remarks come amid political debate following the US Department of Justice’s latest release of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs had also dismissed references in the files to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2017 visit to Israel.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described the claims as “trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal” and said they deserved “utmost contempt.”

Last month, the US Department of Justice released more than three million pages of records related to Epstein, along with over 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.

The disclosures were made under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandates the release of records concerning Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Epstein died in a New York jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.