New Delhi: India has summoned US diplomats in the Capital over a report that America’s NSA spied on BJP after authorization in 2010. In a strong reaction over the allegations, New Delhi has called it ‘unacceptable’, seeking assurance from the US that it won’t happen again.
BJP, which took power in May after a landslide victory in this year’s elections, was among six political outfits in the world that the National Security Agency (NSA) was allowed to spy upon. The latest disclosure through classified documents reportedly leaked by Edward Snowden.
Documents made public by Washington Post on Monday revealed that the BJP was listed along with the Pakistan People’s Party and Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood among outfits for whom the NSA had sought permission to carry out surveillance.
The document lists India among 193 foreign governments and other entities that America’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court said the NSA could spy on “for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence.”
“Virtually no foreign government is off-limits for the National Security Agency, which has been authorized to intercept information ‘concerning’ all but four countries, according to top-secret documents,” The Post reported.
The four countries exempt from surveillance were Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.