In Modi government, opposition leader is not allowed to meet foreign guests: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, 4 December Congress's former president and Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday that in the Modi government, the Opposition Leader is not allowed to meet foreign dignitaries.
Mr. Rahul Gandhi told reporters here in the Parliament House complex today that earlier, any foreign dignitary was allowed to meet the Opposition Leader. This tradition continued until the Modi government came to power, but now this tradition has been ended and they are not allowed to meet foreign dignitaries. He said that the Opposition Leader has a different point of view and they should be allowed to meet foreign dignitaries, but the Modi government and the Ministry of External Affairs are not following these principles.
Mr. Rahul Gandhi, in response to a question about Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India, said, "Generally, it has been a tradition that whoever comes from abroad also meets the Leader of the Opposition, it happened during the governments of former Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr. Manmohan Singh as well. This has been an old tradition, but now whoever comes on a visit to India, or whenever I travel abroad, this government prevents them from meeting me. This is their policy and they do it every time. When I go abroad, I am also told that the government is against their meeting with me.
In response to a question about relations with the Russian President, he said, "We have relations with everyone, the LoP provides a different perspective, we also represent India, it's not just the government that represents the country. The Modi government does not want the Opposition to meet foreign dignitaries, although it has been a tradition to do so. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, reacting to Mr. Rahul Gandhi's comment, said that in a democracy, it is good that visiting dignitaries are allowed to meet them.