No Bilateral Meeting Between PM Modi and Italian PM: MEA

There have been allegations of Modi meeting Renzi to secure evidence linking Sonia Gandhi to AgustaWestland case.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo: Reuters)

There was no bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2015, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday.

This was in response to allegations by James Christian Michel, the middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, on a purported meeting between Modi and Renzi where the PM offered to free two Italian marines who are facing murder charges in India, in exchange of evidence linking Sonia Gandhi and her family to the corruption in the Rs 3600 crore deal.

Insofar as James Christian Michel is concerned, various law enforcement authorities of India are proceeding against him in cases relating to the Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

<b>Ministry of External Affairs</b>

Also read: CBI Approaches MEA to Get Italian Court’s Order on AgustaWestland

It also noted that an open ended non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued by the special judge of CBI against Michel on 24 September 2015.

Upon a CBI request, a Red notice against him has been issued by the Interpol Headquarters on 25 November 25, 2015. The Enforcement Directorate, another autonomous agency to handle private money laundering and foreign exchange irregularities, has also separately sent a Red Corner notice seeking arrest and a request for his extradition from the UK on 29 February in 2016.

<b>Ministry of External Affairs</b>