Kejriwal’s lie: Uganda mission never wrote letter thanking AAP

The Union Ministry of External Affairs has refuted Arvind Kejriwal's claim that his Law Minister Somnath Bharti had been thanked by the Ugandan high commission for drawing attention to the plight of innocent Ugandan women who are lured to India on the pretext of finding work and forced into sex rackets.

Waving a letter at the media, Kejriwal had  said, "A woman from the Uganda High Commission met us and told us how women are brought to India and forced into the sex trade. They thanked us," he said.

Kejriwal at rail bhavan: Image by Naresh Sharma/Firstpost

However the External Affairs ministry has said that the Ugandan mission had denied reaching out to the Delhi government and warned the media against giving credence to "rumours". "Uganda's High Commission Staff currently not in New Delhi. Please do not give credence to rumours,"  tweeted Syed Akbaruddin, official spokesperson of the MEA, in response to an AAP follower repeating Kejriwal's statement.

The Indian Express also quoted Akbaruddin as saying, "We have been told by the Ugandan mission that none of its officials have met Delhi government ministers."

According to this report in the Times of India, the letter in Kejriwal's possession was actually part of an internal communication between the Defence Advisor of the Ugandan High Commission and the Chief of its Military Intelligence dated 19 June 2013. It reportedly talks about the case of a Ugandan woman who was brought to India on the pretext of a job but was trapped in a sex racket.

The letter was in no way addressed to the Delhi government.

External Affairs minister Salman Khurshid had also denied Kejriwal's claims and accused the AAP government of trying to "spoil India's relation with friendly countries".

"It is completely wrong. I don't know who visited them (AAP). Uganda's High Commissioner is not here," Khurshid said in remarks to the media.

"I think it is sad that you are playing with country's reputation and relationship with friendly countries. I cannot think of something greater in terms of betrayal of this country than what is being done," he added.