India’s Ministry of External Affairs has vehemently rejected references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2017 Israel visit appearing in documents from the recently unsealed Epstein files. The diplomatic rebuke came Saturday in response to an email purportedly connecting the Indian leader to the scandal surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal characterized the reference as ‘little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal’ that warrant ‘utmost contempt.’ While acknowledging the factual occurrence of Modi’s official visit to Israel in July 2017, the ministry completely discredited any further implications contained within the email correspondence.
The political controversy emerged earlier when opposition Congress party leader Pawan Khera raised concerns about the Prime Minister’s alleged proximity to the disgraced financier. Khera asserted that the connection raised ‘serious questions of judgment, transparency, and diplomatic propriety’ regarding Modi’s unexplained association with Epstein.
The documents in question were released Friday by the US Department of Justice as part of a congressionally mandated transparency initiative. The massive disclosure included over three million pages of records, approximately 2,000 videos, and around 180,000 images related to the Epstein investigation.
Epstein died in August 2019 in a New York jail cell from an apparent suicide while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His previous incarceration in 2008 resulted from a controversial plea deal that allowed him to serve only 13 months in custody.