New Delhi, Feb 1: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named in the recently released “Epstein files,” triggering sharp questions from the opposition in India.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs dismissed the claims. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal rejected allegations of any meeting or consultation between Prime Minister Modi and Jeffrey Epstein.
On Saturday, the opposition Indian National Congress claimed that files linked to Epstein, a US sex offender and human trafficker, mention Modi’s name.
Congress leader Pawan Khera wrote on social media, “This is a matter of national shame. Prime Minister Modi must come forward and answer three questions.”
Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame on Nepal
The Congress listed its questions as follows: “What kind of advice did Narendra Modi take from Jeffrey Epstein? For whose benefit did Modi ‘dance’ in Israel, allegedly for US President Donald Trump? Epstein wrote ‘it worked… so what does that mean?”
The post added, “Narendra Modiji, the country is demanding answers. What is your relationship with serial rapist Epstein?”
Rejecting the allegations, the Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement saying that, except for Prime Minister Modi’s official visit to Israel in July 2017, the remaining emails are “the nonsense of a convicted criminal” and should be completely ignored.
The statement said the ministry had seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that mentioned the prime minister and his Israel visit. Apart from the official Israel visit in July 2017, all other emails were described as baseless claims by a convicted criminal.
Congress further claimed on social media that Epstein’s email stated, “Indian Prime Minister Modi, after taking advice, danced in Israel for the benefit of the US president. They had met a few weeks earlier. It worked.”
The party added that Epstein clearly said Modi took advice from him before going to Israel and acted there in the interest of the US president, claiming again that “it worked.”
Congress argued that Modi visited Israel from July 4 to 6, 2017, and that Epstein wrote the email three days later. It also pointed out that Modi met President Trump in the United States on June 25 and 26, 2017, just before the Israel visit. Linking these events, the party claimed Modi went to the US in June 2017 and consulted Epstein.
It further alleged that Modi reached Israel a week later and acted as advised, concluding that the prime minister had a deep and long-standing relationship with Epstein, which it called embarrassing for India and a matter of national dignity and international standing.
Recently, the United States Department of Justice released millions of new files related to Epstein. On Friday, three million pages, 180,000 images, and 2,000 videos were made public.
The files reportedly mention President Trump hundreds of times. Trump had earlier said he was once friends with Epstein but later fell out with him and had no knowledge of Epstein’s sexual crimes.
The files also include email exchanges between Epstein and tech billionaire Elon Musk. Epstein was found dead in jail in 2019, with authorities claiming he died by suicide.
