Washington: The US is hoping that its National Security Agency’s surveillance on the BJP will not adversely impact bilateral ties with India, State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday.
When asked about the strong protest lodged by India against the spying of BJP by the NSA, she said that American diplomats had met Indian officials in this regard. “I can confirm that diplomats from our embassy have met with their MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) counterparts on this issue, but I am not going to get into the substance of our private conversationsâ€.
Without directly mentioning India, she said the US is talking with the Indian Government to increase confidence between the two countries on the issue. “As you know, since January 17, the (US) President has made clear that he is 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.
In reference to the possible September visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, Psaki said the country was looking forward to continuing “discussion on a full range of bilateral and regional issuesâ€.
BJP figured in the list of foreign political parties along with Lebanon’s Amal, the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator of Venezuela, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian National Salvation Front and the Pakistan People’s Party for whom the NSA had sought permission to carry out surveillance, according to documents made public by the Washington Post.
Jen Psaki refrained from confirming if the BJP has been taken off the list of global political organisations that is being spied upon by the NSA or the US has assured to the Indian government that it would not be done in the future.