'Blatant lie,' says BJP on Rahul Gandhi's claim foreign heads not allowed to meet him

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) The BJP on Thursday dismissed as a "blatant lie" Rahul Gandhi's allegation that the government does not let foreign dignitaries meet him, the Leader of Opposition, saying he had met many foreign guests, including the prime ministers of New Zealand and Mauritius, this year.

In a post on X, BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni shared pictures of Gandhi from meetings with these foreign dignitaries and said, "During any visit, MEA organises meetings for the visiting dignitary with government officials and government bodies." He added, "Organising meetings outside the government depends on the visiting delegation." The rebuttal came after Gandhi 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 (LoP) in the Lok Sabha 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.

Baluni, a Lok Sabha MP, said Gandhi had met at least five foreign guests, including heads of state in just one and a half years.

He said Gandhi met former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina on June 10, 2024, Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim on August 21, 2024, Prime Minister of Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam on September 16, 2025, and Prime Minister of New Zealand Christopher Luxon on March 8, 2025.

"The LOP also met the PM of Vietnam on August 1, 2024," Baluni said, posting pictures of the Congress leader meeting these foreign dignitaries on X.

Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and party MP Priyanka Gandhi were present with Rahul at some of these meetings, the pictures shared by the BJP leader show.

"These pictures can't be fake, Rahul Gandhi ji," Baluni said, adding, the photographs proved that the LoP is "simply lying." "However, whenever you go to foreign soil, you always end up tarnishing the image of India, India's democracy, and India's Constitution," Baluni charged. PTI PK PK VN VN