MEA denies Epstein claim
The Union government denied the contents of newly released emails from the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which claimed that U.S. President Donald Trump had played a role in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017, referring to the emails as “trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal”.
In more than a dozen emails and phone messages released by the U.S. government on Friday (January 30, 2026), Epstein referred to India and Mr. Modi, expressing a desire to enhance U.S.-India engagement.
He also claimed he would set up a meeting with the Prime Minister for Republican strategist and Mr. Trump associate Steve Bannon, shortly after the 2019 general election. Epstein also appeared to be engaged in correspondence with Indian businessman Anil Ambani about many of these issues.
The Opposition called for an explanation from the government regarding the allegations, terming them a “national shame.”
Epstein had linked a Modi-Trump meeting on June 25 and 26, 2017 to the PM’s subsequent Israel visit from July 4 to 6 that same year, claiming that the Israel visit had “worked” because Mr. Modi had followed the advice of the U.S. President.
“We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel,” the MEA spokesperson said in a statement issued on Saturday. “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,” the spokesperson added.
The timing of the emails is significant as the Prime Minister is expected to make his second visit to Israel at the end of February.
The emails were part of about three million pages released by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of its investigation into Mr. Epstein’s paedophilic ring and influence operations.
They included an email from Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri to Epstein in November 2014, outlining the reasons for engaging with India after Mr. Modi’s election. Mr. Puri neither denied nor confirmed sending the email, and neither he nor the MEA commented on it.
Mr. Puri retired from the Indian Foreign Service as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2013. At the time the email was sent, he was working with the International Peace Institute, and although he was not in the government, he was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In response to previous emails released in November 2025 that detailed correspondence and meetings between Mr. Puri and Epstein, BJP spokespersons had called Epstein’s claims “bogus” and “drunk bragging on mail.”
The MEA’s statement came in response to questions about a specific email sent by Epstein on July 6, 2017, purportedly advising an influential Qatari person by the name “Jabor Y”, who is reportedly close to the Qatari royal family, on being more vocal against terrorism, presumably in the context of Israel and Hamas.
“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 ! (sic),” Epstein said in the mail sent on the day Mr. Modi’s visit to Israel ended.
TMC MP Sagarika Ghosh called the email “shocking and shameful”, calling on the government to provide “clarity.”