NEW DELHI: Newly released US Justice Department files linked to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have drawn attention in India after an email surfaced referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, prompting a strong rebuttal from New Delhi.
According to a report by The Jerusalem Post, one email attributed to Epstein mentions Modi’s 2017 state visit to Israel — the first by an Indian prime minister — and claims the trip was undertaken on Epstein’s advice.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs swiftly rejected the assertion, saying the only confirmed detail in the email was Modi’s official visit and dismissing the rest as baseless.
Foreign Office spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal described the comments as unfounded remarks by a convicted criminal, stressing there was no evidence of any advisory role or meaningful contact between Modi and Epstein.
Despite the denial, opposition parties seized on the reference to demand clarification from the government. The Indian National Congress said the alleged link was damaging to the country’s reputation and called on the prime minister to respond publicly.
Congress claimed the email suggested Modi acted on Epstein’s guidance during the Israel visit in July 2017 and argued the timing of the message — days after the trip — raised serious questions.
Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, had earlier been convicted in 2008 for soliciting a minor.
The latest release of documents includes references to several prominent figures, among them US President Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and British entrepreneur Richard Branson.