Hardeep Singh Puri explains ‘have fun’ and ‘exotic island’ emails to Jeffrey Epstein

Hardeep Puri

• Hardeep Puri says emails with Epstein were casual, not improper
• Puri denies knowing Epstein's criminal history at the time
• He clarifies he never visited Epstein's private island

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Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has explained the context behind his use of the phrases “have fun” and “exotic island” in email exchanges with disgraced American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying the expressions were casual and carried no special meaning.

In an interview with NDTV, Puri addressed questions over emails sent in 2014 and 2015 that resurfaced after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the minister’s name appeared in documents linked to Epstein released in the United States.

Puri denied any knowledge at the time of the full extent of Epstein’s criminal conduct and rejected suggestions that the correspondence indicated impropriety.

Puri said he did not know who Epstein was when he first encountered him at a meeting connected to the International Peace Institute (IPI), where he was then serving as Secretary General of the Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM). He said he later looked Epstein up online and discussed internally whether further meetings were appropriate.

On the December 2014 email in which he referred to an “exotic island”, Puri told NDTV that the phrase was something he used casually with many acquaintances and that no deeper meaning should be read into it.

He said it was a conversational expression rather than a reference to any specific place or association.

Addressing another reply in which he wrote “have fun”, Puri said that by 2014–15 he may have been aware of some allegations surrounding Epstein, but did not know the full extent of the crimes that later emerged. He emphasised that Epstein was not a personal acquaintance and that his interactions were limited to a few professional settings linked to delegation work.

Puri also told NDTV that he had never visited Epstein’s private island and that Epstein had never visited his home, reiterating that the meetings were incidental and not part of any personal relationship.