The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday clarified that PM Narendra Modi had been mentioned in the infamous files of late child sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, but only because of his official visit to Israel in July 2017.
According to MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, all other allusions to PM Modi's name in the Epstein files email circulating in media reports were "little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal".
"(The rumours) deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt," he added.
This comes a day after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a tranche containing millions of files related to Epstein. This was the largest such disclosure by the US government since a 2025 law that directed that the files be made public.
Former British royal, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, US President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, and Trump's commerce secretary Howard Lutnick were the most prominent names in the latest set of files.
Despite the clarification from the MEA, PM Modi's mention in the Epstein files sparked massive online backlash, with the Congress posting a screenshot of the email in question and attacking him in an X post.
“The Indian Prime Minister Modi took advice and danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US President. They had met a few weeks ago. IT WORKED!” Epstein had said in the email.
"PM Modi, the nation wants to know: What is your relationship with Jeffrey Epstein? Congress questioned in its post.
(More details are awaited.)
