New Delhi [India], January 31 (ANI): The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Saturday strongly dismissed with contempt the references made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel in 2017 in an email that is purportedly part of the recently released Epstein Files.

In a video message, the MEA spokesperson dubbed the reference as the trashy ruminations of a convicted criminal.

'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. 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.

https://x.com/i/status/2017625609493745846

The MEA response was met with further questions by the Congress which has sought to raise the issue of the reference to PM Modi in the purported email.

'The PM is mentioned several times in the latest installment of the Epstein files released by the US Govt. The Official Spokesperson has been compelled to respond. But many questions do remain,' said Congress RS MP Jairam Ramesh in a post on X.

Earlier, BJP MP Sambit Patra accused the Congress of spreading falsehoods by allegedly editing an email linked to the Jeffrey Epstein files to falsely suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken advice from the disgraced financier.

Speaking to ANI here, Patra said the Congress had carried out what he described as a 'fraudulent act' by manipulating the contents of an email attributed to Epstein.

'I want to expose the kind of tweet that has been made by Congress about Prime Minister Modi ji - a fraudulent tweet. As you all know, there's a person named Jeffrey Epstein, after whom the Epstein Files are named. Those Epstein Files were revealed. Jeffrey Epstein was a child trafficker, a sex offender, a person with no credibility, who was ultimately convicted and committed suicide by hanging himself,' he said.

Patra alleged that Congress had deliberately added the words 'his advice' to an email where such wording was not present, to create the impression that Prime Minister Modi had taken advice from Epstein.

Patra warned that the Congress's actions would not go unnoticed and that such actions would have consequences.

Earlier, the Congress party had sought to raise the issue of the Prime Minister being named in a purported email that is part of the documents released from the Epstein estate

'That India's PM could have a proximity to such a disgraced figure raises serious questions of judgment, transparency, and diplomatic propriety. It is now clear that the Prime Minister had a direct unexplained association with Jeffery Epstein whose infamous list of elite clients has wreaked havoc ever since the Epstein files began to be released,' alleged Congress leader Pawan Khera.

The US Department of Justice on Friday (local time) released a major batch of investigative material linked to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, making public more than three million pages of records along with over 2,000 videos and around 180,000 images.

Epstein died by apparent suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. He had earlier served 13 months in custody in Florida following a controversial plea deal in 2008. (ANI)