Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that he did not discuss “personal matters” – such as the legal challenges faced by billionaire Gautam Adani in the United States – in a meeting with President Donald Trump.

Modi was visiting the US on Wednesday and Thursday.

Opposition leaders criticised Modi’s remarks, accusing him of trying to hide the corruption allegations against Adani while abroad.

At a joint press conference with Trump in Washington DC, Modi was asked whether the two had discussed Adani’s indictment in New York for his alleged role in a multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme.

The journalist said that Adani was “perceived as an ally” of the prime minister.

“First of all, India is a democratic country and our culture is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” Modi responded. “We treat the world as a family, and I treat every Indian as one of my own. Secondly, on such personal matters, the leaders of two countries neither meet, nor sit together, nor hold discussions.”

Adani’s indictment in New York pertains to a case related to his solar projects in India, according to the United States Attorney’s office for the Eastern District. A judge also issued arrest warrants for the founder of the Adani Group and his nephew, Sagar Adani, Reuters reported in November.

The US Attorney’s office alleged that Gautam Adani and seven others, including Sagar Adani, agreed to pay over $265 million, or nearly Rs 2,236 crore, in bribes to Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to obtain renewable energy contracts expected to yield the business a profit of $2 billion, or nearly Rs 16,880 crore, over 20 years.

The Adani Group has said that the allegations are baseless. It has also maintained that the charges in the indictment are allegations and that the defendants are to be presumed innocent till proven guilty.

Commenting on Modi’s statement at the press conference, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Friday that the prime minister was “trying to hide Adani’s corruption even in America”.

“If you ask questions within the country, there is silence,” said the Lok Sabha leader of Opposition. “If you ask abroad, it is a personal matter!”

Gandhi added: “When Modi ji considers filling a friend’s pocket as ‘nation building’, then taking bribes and looting the nation’s wealth becomes a ‘personal matter’.”

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale said Modi appeared “angry and flustered” while answering questions in the press conference with Trump.

“PM Modi is forced to do a press conference in the US – something he hasn’t done in India in 11 years,” he wrote on X. “This is why he never takes press questions in India. This is why his ‘interviews’ in India are fully scripted.”

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