India on Saturday rejected claims linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2017 Israel visit that surfaced in newly released US Justice Department documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday rejected claims related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2017 visit to Israel that appeared in newly released documents linked to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The ministry dismissed the references as baseless and strongly refuted any suggestion of impropriety.
In a statement, the MEA said it had taken note of reports about an email from the so-called Epstein files that mentioned the Prime Minister and his Israel visit.
“Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister’s official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt,” the ministry said.
Reference limited to official Israel visit
Responding to the reports, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal clarified that the reference in question related only to Prime Minister Modi’s official visit to Israel in July 2017. He said there was no basis for drawing any other conclusions from the email.
Prime Minister Modi’s 2017 visit was significant as it marked the first time an Indian Prime Minister travelled to Israel since the two countries established full diplomatic relations in 1992.
The clarification came after the US Department of Justice on Friday released a large tranche of investigative material linked to Jeffrey Epstein. The release made public more than three million pages of records, along with over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images.
Announcing the disclosures, Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche said the release was part of a transparency mandate passed by Congress last year. He added that this marked the final phase of disclosures planned under the law, with many documents heavily redacted to protect victims or ongoing investigations.
Background on Epstein case
The newly published files include material that had been withheld from an initial release in December. The law also mandates the disclosure of records related to Epstein’s longtime associate and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein died in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
End of Article
