India rejects Epstein file reference to PM Modi, calls claims 'trendy ruminations'

Responding to reports about an email cited in the so-called “Epstein files,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the reference merely mentioned Prime Minister Modi’s official visit to Israel in July 2017 and carried no factual basis beyond that.

“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,” Jaiswal said.

Prime Minister Modi’s 2017 visit to Israel was historic, marking the first time an Indian Prime Minister travelled to the country since India and Israel established full diplomatic relations in 1992.

The clarification came hours after the US Justice Department released a fresh tranche of records from its investigative files on Epstein under a transparency law aimed at revealing what authorities knew about the financier’s sexual abuse of minors and his interactions with powerful individuals.

Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche said the latest disclosure includes more than 3 million pages of documents, over 2,000 videos, and approximately 180,000 images, according to media reports.

Officials said the material had been withheld from an earlier release in December.

The disclosures are mandated under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, enacted following sustained public and political pressure.

The law requires the release of records related not only to Epstein but also to his longtime associate and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Epstein died in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.