Overview
- Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said neither Rahul Gandhi nor Mallikarjun Kharge received invitations to the Rashtrapati Bhavan state dinner for President Vladimir Putin.
- Shashi Tharoor confirmed he was invited and would attend, noting his role as chair of the Parliamentary External Affairs committee, while party colleagues such as Pawan Khera questioned his acceptance.
- Rahul Gandhi alleged the government discourages visiting delegations from meeting the Leader of the Opposition, calling it a break with practice under Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh and a sign of "insecurity."
- Government and MEA sources disputed Gandhi’s charge, saying the visiting side arranges any meetings outside the official programme and citing examples of LoP meetings with foreign leaders since 2024.
- Putin’s visit and the state banquet went ahead as the Modi–Putin summit focused on defence cooperation, shielding bilateral trade from external pressure, and exploring small modular reactor collaboration.