Govt Instructs Visiting Dignitaries Not to Meet LoP, It’s Their Insecurity: Rahul Gandhi Ahead of Putin’s Visit

Delhi/Hyderabad, Dec 4 (Maxim News): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Central government of deliberately preventing visiting foreign dignitaries from meeting the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), calling it a sign of the government’s “insecurity”. His comments came just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day visit to India.

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Addressing reporters in the Parliament House complex, Gandhi said it had always been a long-standing tradition for foreign leaders to meet the Leader of the Opposition during official visits. He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs were ignoring this established norm.

“Normally, the tradition is that those who come from abroad have a meeting with the LoP. This used to happen during Vajpayee ji’s time, during 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,” Gandhi said.

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He claimed that this has become a regular pattern.

“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’,” the former Congress president said.

Emphasising the importance of such meetings, Gandhi argued that the Leader of the Opposition provides an alternate viewpoint essential to a healthy democracy.

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“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 — a norm — but Modi ji does not follow this norm, the foreign ministry does not follow this norm,” he added, without directly naming Putin.

When asked why the government was acting this way, he responded, “It is their insecurity.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to arrive in New Delhi on Thursday evening for a summit with Prime Minister Modi. The meeting is expected to focus on strengthening defence cooperation, insulating India–Russia trade from external pressures, and exploring collaboration in small modular reactors. Western nations are likely to closely monitor the outcomes of the high-level talks. (Maxim News)

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