New Delhi: The Congress Saturday demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarification over his name allegedly featuring in US investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein, even as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dismissed any association as “trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal”.
The Congress dug in over the controversy, with the party sharing two documents on social media. The documents purportedly showed Epstein–millionaire financier and convicted sex offender—discussing the Prime Minister’s diplomatic engagements and meetings.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet that the PM’s silence on the “truly scandalous” issue was “unacceptable”.
The MEA issued a statement Saturday, dismissing the allegations. “We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that carries 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,” the MEA said.
The files are publicly released court and investigative records related to probes and lawsuits surrounding Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking network and interactions with his associates, released by the US Department of Justice under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
One document showed Epstein writing in an email dated 9 July 2017: “The Indian Prime minister modi took =dvice. and danced and sang in israel for the benef=t of the US president. they had met a few weeks ag=. . IT WORKED. ! (sic)”.
The reference appeared to relate to Modi’s visit to Israel from 4–6 July 2017, which marked the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and was the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Israel. Shortly before that, Modi was in the US on 26–27 June 2017, where he met President Donald Trump in their first bilateral meeting.
“This inexcusable association between Epstein and Narendra Modi is a matter of national dignity and international reputation that demands immediate accountability from the Prime Minister himself. The PM should clarify: 1. What was he taking Jeffrey Epstein’s advice for? 2. To what benefit of the US President was he singing and dancing in Israel? 3. The message mentions — ‘IT WORKED!’ So, what worked?” Congress’s Pawan Khera posted on X.
Sharing Khera’s post, Ramesh wrote, “This is truly scandalous. The PM himself MUST clarify immediately.”
Extremely shameful!!
Narendra Modi’s name has surfaced in the Epstein files. America’s serial rapist, child sex offender, and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein wrote in an email on July 9, 2017: 👇
“The Indian Prime Minister Modi took advice and danced and sang in Israel for… pic.twitter.com/TTkO2Z7Sfi
— Congress (@INCIndia) January 31, 2026
The Congress also uploaded a second file purportedly showing an exchange of messages between Epstein and former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon. Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 while in jail, a month after being indicted on sex trafficking charges.
Modi’s name allegedly figured in the exchange dated 24 May 2019. A screenshot showed Epstein writing to Bannon: “really interesting modi meeting, he won with HUGE mandate. his guy said that no one in wash speaks to him however his main enemy is CHINA! and their proxy in the region pakistan. they will host the g20 in 22 (sic).” The 2019 Lok Sabha election results were declared on 23 May.
Sharing this document, Khera wrote on X: “A few pertinent questions arise: 1. Why was Modi meeting a disgraceful American such as Epstein right around the 2019 elections? 2. Why was Modi telling the country about his friendship with America when no one in ‘Wash’ cared to speak to him? 3. Why did he, just a year later, after the Galwan crisis, give a clean chit to his ‘main enemy’ China? 4. What ‘vision’ of American media executive and political strategist Steve Bannon does Modi align with? 5. Was the proposed meeting between Bannon and Modi held? What was discussed?”
#WATCH | Delhi: BJP MP Sambit Patra says, "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… pic.twitter.com/baogNOJ3hM
— ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2026
Epstein’s purported exchange with Bannon is, however, ambiguous about the “meeting”. It doesn’t suggest any Modi-Epstein meeting, as alleged by the Congress. It could even mean a usual political meeting that PM Modi might have held or addressed. He had given a victory speech at the BJP headquarters after trends suggested a massive win for the ruling party.
A physical meeting between Epstein and Modi in that time frame looks an impossibility. Modi didn’t travel to the US between June 2017 and September 2019 when the Howdy Modi event took place on 22 September 2019. By that time Epstein, who was first convicted for sex offences and spent jail time in 2006, was arrested again on 6 July 2019 for sex trafficking. A month later, he died, allegedly by suicide on 10 August 2019.
The reference to “his guy” telling him that no one in Washington speaks to him is also ambiguous about the identity of that person. It’s not PM Modi and “his guy” could be any one from India, the US, or anywhere else, with unknown credentials.
To be sure, inclusion of names in documents released as part of the files does not, by itself, imply wrongdoing or criminal association.
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