Epstein email claims Modi danced, sang in Israel on advice to please US president

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced criticism at home after the release of US Justice Department documents that included a reference to his 2017 visit to Israel in an email written by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, Bloomberg reported.

India’s government on Saturday dismissed the reference after the US Justice Department released around three million pages of material related to Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in custody.

Among the documents was a July 2017 email sent by Epstein to a person identified as Y. Jabor, in which he referred to Modi’s trip to Israel.

In the email, Epstein claimed the Indian prime minister “took advice, and danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US president,” adding that the two leaders had met weeks earlier. The email did not provide further context or evidence to support the remarks.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs acknowledged Modi’s official visit to Israel in July 2017 but rejected the characterisation contained in the email. “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,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

Congress criticised Prime Minister Modi following the release of Epstein’s emails, calling his alleged connection with the late financier “ extremely shameful” and demanding answers.

The party highlighted Epstein’s claim that Modi “took advice and danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US President,” and questioned the nature of Modi’s interactions with Epstein before his 2017 visits to the US and Israel.

Pakistani politician Mushahid Hussain Syed also took a shot at the Indian prime minisyter, saying: “Prime Minister Modi who, despite being a Yogi & Brahmachari, had no compunction in seeking advice & guidance from a certified paedophile like Epstein on how to please President Trump during his 2017 visit to Israel!”

Earlier, President Trump recounted a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying Modi sought permission to meet him, as he mocked the Indian leader during remarks at a House GOP member retreat.

“Prime Minister Modi came to see me, ‘Sir, may I see you please’. Yes,” Trump said while speaking about defence sales and trade ties with India.

Trump said India has been waiting for five years for US-made Apache attack helicopters and had ordered 68 of them. He made the comments while discussing defence demand and trade leverage.

The US president said Modi was “not that happy with me” because of tariffs imposed by Washington on New Delhi over its continued purchases of Russian oil.

“I have a very good relationship with him. He’s not that happy with me because you know they’re paying a lot of tariffs now because they’re not doing the oil, but they are, they’ve now reduced it very substantially, as you know, from Russia,” Trump said.