New Delhi: State Street Strategies, a public affairs firm in the US, has hired Squire Patton Boggs (SPB), a Washington-based legal firm that also does some work with the Pakistan government, to lobby on behalf of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), lobbying disclosures submitted by SPB to the US Senate show.
However, RSS national media and publicity department head Sunil Ambekar Thursday said the organisation “works in Bharat and has not engaged any lobbying firm in the US”.
According to the public documents accessed by ThePrint, the firm was hired by State Street Strategies to lobby on behalf of the RSS on 3 March, with a particular focus on promoting US-India bilateral relations.
SPB is one of the most well-connected law firms in Washington D.C. Earlier this year, it was subcontracted by Orchid Advisers LLC, a public affairs firm hired by the Pakistani government to lobby its own interests in the US.
“Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh works in Bharat and has not engaged any lobbying firm in United States of America”
– Sunil Ambekar
Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh , RSS@editorvskbharat
— Sunil Ambekar (@SunilAmbekarM) November 13, 2025
ThePrint had accessed filings published by the US Department of Justice earlier this year, that indicate Orchid Advisers LLC was being paid $250,000 a month by Islamabad for its efforts. Around 50 percent of the fee was to be paid to SPB. Orchid Advisers was hired to secure Islamabad access to President Donald Trump’s administration, along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
The RSS in general does not have a foreign footprint, but the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) is perceived to have strong links with the Indian organisation. The HSS has a footprint across a number of Western countries. In the US, it has been registered in New Jersey as a non-profit organisation since 1989.
Lobbying in the US is not new. The Indian embassy in Washington D.C. for example has a number of firms on its payroll to promote New Delhi’s interests across various levels of American governance.
In August, the Indian embassy hired Mercury Public Affairs on a $75,000 per month contract for three months for strategic media relations and federal government relations. The firm had previously employed Susie Wiles, the current Chief of Staff to President Trump. The hiring of Mercury Public Affairs came at a moment when India-US ties were facing multiple headwinds.
New Delhi spends around $275,000 a month for its lobbying efforts. The Overseas Friends of BJP has been registered as an active lobbyist for India’s ruling party, according to the US Department of Justice.
Similarly Pakistan spends an estimated $600,000 a month for its own lobbying efforts in the US. Islamabad has hired at least six government affairs and communication firms as a part of its efforts—one of which is Orchid Advisers and through them SPB.
At least three payments have been made to SPB since the contract was signed with State Street Strategies on behalf of the RSS. The first payment of $120,000 was disclosed by the law firm on 15 April this year. The second, of $100,000, was disclosed on 11 July, and the third payment of $110,000 was reported on 16 October.
The second and third quarterly payments were made after the contract between Orchid Advisers and the Government of Pakistan was registered with the US Department of Justice, and after the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)