Rahul Gandhi accuses Modi govt of blocking foreign dignitaries from meeting LoP ahead of Putin's visit

Rahul Gandhi outside Parliament during the winter session. Pic/PTI

Ahead of Russian President Putin's visit to India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the Leader of the Opposition due to its "insecurity".

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said it is a tradition that visiting foreign dignitaries meet the LoP, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs were not following this norm.

Rahul Gandhi, while talking to the media at the Parliament House complex, said, "Normally, the tradition is that those who come from abroad have a meeting with the LoP. This used to happen during (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee ji's time and Manmohan Singh ji's time; it has been a tradition, but what happens these days is that when foreign dignitaries come and when I go abroad, the government suggests to them not to meet the LoP," as cited by news agency PTI.

Rahul Gandhi also added, "This is their policy; they do this every time. They do it when I go abroad and when people come here. We get the message that they have been told that the government has said 'not to meet you'."

Rahul Gandhi, while highlighting the importance of such meetings and without naming the Russian President, said, "We also represent India; only the government does not represent India. The government does not want opposition leaders to meet foreign leaders. This is a tradition (visiting foreign dignitaries meeting LoP), a norm, but Modi ji does not follow this norm; the foreign ministry does not follow this norm," as cited by news agency PTI.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in India on Thursday evening for a summit meeting with Prime Minister Modi. Putin's meeting with Modi will focus on boosting defence ties and insulating India-Russia trade from external pressure.

As reported by news agency PTI, the summit between the two global leaders will also focus on exploring cooperation in small modular reactors that are set to be the focus of the summit meeting between Modi and Putin on Friday, which is expected to be closely watched by Western capitals.

(With inputs from PTI)