Exclusive | Jeffrey Epstein shadow: MEA told Commerce it didn’t recommend ‘ministerial meeting’ with Bill Gates

The AMS division handles bilateral relations with countries in North, Central, and South America, including the USA and Canada.

It is learnt that the MEA’s advice to the Commerce Ministry was issued “with the approval of the competent authority.”

Sources said after the MEA’s communication, the FICCI event was postponed.

The MEA’s note of caution comes amid widespread global scrutiny of Gates’s relationship with Epstein, which reportedly began in 2011, three years after Epstein’s initial conviction for sex crimes involving minors.

When contacted, a Commerce Ministry spokesperson said, “MEA will respond to this.” An email seeking response from the MEA remained unanswered.

Gates arrived in India on February 16 and met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan and senior state officials. He was scheduled to deliver his keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit on February 19 but hours earlier he withdrew from the event.

On February 19, the Gates Foundation issued a statement: “After careful consideration, and to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities, Mr. Gates will not be delivering his keynote address. The Gates Foundation will be represented by Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, who will speak later today at the Summit.”

“The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals,” it added.

Earlier, the Gates Foundation said that it will continue to review material released in connection with Epstein files.

“On the basis of Epstein’s claims that he could mobilize significant philanthropic resources for global health and development, a small number of foundation employees interacted with Epstein to try to secure this potential funding. Ultimately, the foundation did not pursue any collaboration with Epstein and no fund was ever created. At no time were financial payments made by the foundation to Epstein, nor was he employed by the foundation at any time,” it said in a statement on February 11.

“The harm Epstein inflicted on women and girls was horrific, and no one should ever have to experience what they did,” it added.

The Gates Foundation and FICCI did not respond to emails.

The Gates Foundation, which began its work in India in 2003, works with the Centre, many state governments and private sector stakeholders across various sectors including health and development issues, from maternal and child health, nutrition, vaccines and immunization to family planning, inclusive financial systems and sanitation.

Emails released by the US in January as part of the Epstein investigation showed exchanges between Epstein and Anil Ambani and Epstein and Hardeep Puri when he was a diplomat in New York and a private citizen. Puri has strongly denied any wrongdoing citing emails which, he has said, show him talking about India’s economic growth and meetings with key potential investors.

Epstein, a wealthy financier, cultivated a network of prominent political, academic, and business elites while running a long-term, illicit sex-trafficking operation involving underage girls. Following his 2019 arrest and subsequent death by suicide in federal custody, there has been controversy regarding his light 2008 conviction, the identities of his associates, and allegations that powerful figures were protected from prosecution.