New Delhi (TIP)- Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said visiting foreign dignitaries were being discouraged from meeting him, a practice he described as a mark of the government’s “insecurity”. Speaking to reporters in the Parliament complex, Gandhi said successive governments, from the Vajpayee era to the Manmohan Singh years, had upheld the norm of ensuring that the LoP met foreign leaders. He claimed that this convention was being quietly abandoned.
“The government does not represent India alone. Meetings with the Opposition leader offer an alternative viewpoint and reflect the democratic character of the country. But during my visits abroad as well as when high-level delegations travel to India, subtle signals are sent that the Opposition leader should be kept off their schedule,” alleged Gandhi. Gandhi argued that the reluctance to facilitate these interactions stemmed from the ruling dispensation’s own sense of vulnerability. Without naming the Russian President, he said the pattern was consistent irrespective of who was visiting the country.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said it was “deeply unusual” and ran counter to the long-standing norms. She said the established protocol required foreign dignitaries to meet the LoP, but the current dispensation “seemed intent on stifling every alternative voice.”
“I cannot understand what drives such fear and insecurity,” she said, stressing that a democracy depends on space for every viewpoint and the move was a sign of the government’s own unease, which was putting the health of democracy at risk. “The LoP meeting foreign dignitaries during their India visits is a time-tested democratic tradition, so that our international engagement is deeper and more meaningful. But those who only wish to speak their own ‘Man ki Baat’ clearly have no regard for these traditions that serve as important pillars of our foreign policy engagement,” said Congress general secretary KC Venugopal.
Putin is in India for a summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where both sides are expected to focus on defence cooperation, securing bilateral trade mechanisms from external pressures, and exploring collaboration on small modular nuclear reactors, discussions closely watched by several Western capitals.
Rubbishing Rahul Gandhi’s claims, government sources told India Today TV that it is not the Ministry of External Affairs but the visiting delegation who decides if they want to organise meetings outside the Government.
However, one look at Rahul Gandhi’s claims paints a different picture. Since June 9, 2024, when he became the Leader of Opposition, he has met at least four foreign heads of state during their official visits to India, including former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He, along with Priyanka and Sonia Gandhi, met then-Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina on June 10.
Soon after, he met Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Delhi on August 21, 2024. In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Ibrahim described the Gandhis as “family friends” following his visit.
In 2025, Rahul Gandhi met New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam during their state visits to India.
Government sources further pointed out that Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders had met President Putin during his visit to India in December 2014.
Earlier, Rahul went on to say that both the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Ministry routinely steer visiting delegations away from the Opposition, calling it an act driven by ‘insecurity’. According to the Congress leader, the government does not want the LoP to offer a different perspective on India’s position.
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