- Rahul Gandhi accused Modi government of blocking Opposition meetings with foreign leaders
- He said meeting Opposition leaders was a tradition under Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh
- Gandhi claimed government insecurity drives the avoidance of Opposition leader meetings
Hours ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has accused the Narendra Modi government of discouraging visiting foreign leaders from meeting leaders of the Opposition. Gandhi said it is the government's "insecurity" that makes them abandon the long-followed tradition.
Speaking to the media outside Parliament, Gandhi said it has been a tradition that any visiting foreign leader has a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition.
"It used to happen during the governments of Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji and Manmohan Singh ji. This has been a tradition. But these days, when foreign dignitaries come or even when I visit abroad, the government suggests that foreign leaders not meet the Leader of the Opposition. This is their policy, and they do it all the time," he alleged.
The Leader of the Opposition, he said, gives a different perspective when s/he meets a visiting foreign leader. "We, too, represent India. It is not just the government which does it. The government doesn't want the Opposition to meet people coming from outside. Modi ji and the Foreign Ministry don't follow this norm. It is their insecurity," Gandhi said.
Harsh Vardhan Shringla, former Foreign Secretary and BJP's Rajya Sabha MP, responded to Gandhi's charge. "These visits are time-constrained, and the guests have a very tight schedule. I don't think there is any protocol that requires the Leader of the Opposition to meet them. What matters is that the guest meets the Prime Minister and the President, who are the heads of state. There is no necessity for them to meet X, Y, or Z; it all depends on time and inclination," he told NDTV.
Russian President Putin is arriving in Delhi this evening to participate in the India-Russia Annual Summit on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to sources in the government, the action-packed itinerary of the Russian President would include dinner with Prime Minister Modi, a visit to Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Raj Ghat, events at Bharat Mandapam and Hyderabad House and a banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu.
