Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Centre of advising the foreign dignitaries not to meet the Leader of Opposition (LoP), a move he described as "insecurity".

His remarks came ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's two-day state visit to India, during which he will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament House complex, Rahul Gandhi said it is a tradition that the foreign dignitaries meet the LoP.

"Normally, the tradition is that those who come from abroad have a meeting with the LoP. This used to happen during (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee ji's time, 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 was quoted as saying by news agency PTI."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," he added.

 

Gandhi also claimed that the Leader of the Opposition provides another perspective and highlighted the importance of such meetings with the visiting dignitaries. "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 (visiting foreign dignitaries meeting LoP), a norm, but Modi ji does not follow this norm, the foreign ministry does not follow this norm," he added.

Putin's India visit