Washington : Amid a row over reports that the US National Security Agency was authorised to spy on BJP in 2010, the US hopes it would not impact ties with India. “Well, we certainly hope not,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.
“As you know, there has been an invitation issued for a visit, and we are looking forward to that, hopefully in the fall,” she said referring to President Barack Obama invitation to Modi to visit the US. “We look forward to continuing discussion on a full range of bilateral and regional issues,” Psaki said.
Citing documents leaked by former NSA contractor turned whistleblower Edward Snowden, the Washington Post on Tuesday had reported that the BJP was among six political organisations across the world NSA was authorised to spy on by a US surveillance court.
Psaki, however, declined to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity.
She also cited a Jan 17 speech in which Obama had made clear that he has instructed his national security team as well as the intelligence community to work with foreign counterparts to deepen our coordination and cooperation in ways that rebuild trust moving forward.
Psaki said diplomats from the US embassy in New Delhi had met with their counterparts in the external affairs Ministry “on this issue, but I’m not going to get into the substance of our private conversations”.
Asked if BJP had been taken off the list since it had now become the ruling party, she said, “I am just not going to have any more details I can lay out for you, other than to convey that we have a deep and broad partnership with India.”
