A US Justice Department photo of Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has set off a new political row in India.

The photo surfaced on Tuesday, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was visiting Mumbai. Opposition leaders were quick to point to the timing.

Rahul Gandhi posted on X: "Rubio goes to Mumbai. The U.S. DOJ releases a picture of Epstein and Puri," and asked who the US was trying to blackmail.

Puri's office said on Wednesday that the minister could not recall which meeting the photograph was taken at, PTI reported.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said the photo shows the two with glasses in front of them. "This is only the beginning," he said.

Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra pointed to Puri's earlier statement that he met Epstein three or four times as part of official delegations.

At a Delhi press conference in February, Puri said those meetings took place between 2009 and 2017 and that he exchanged one email with Epstein.

Emails released by US authorities show the two corresponded from June 2014 to June 2017 and record at least three meetings at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse.

Congress leader Pawan Khera has alleged that Puri met Epstein 14 times between 2014 and 2017. Puri has not accepted that figure.

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