NSA spied on BJP in 2010: Washington Post
NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON: The BJP was one of the five political parties targeted by the National Security Agency (NSA), the US technical spy agency, in 2010 according to papers released by The Washington Post, triggering an unusually angry response from New Delhi.
“India considers it highly objectionable and we will certainly raise the matter with the US,” senior government sources told HT, a sharp contrast from the muted reaction from the foreign ministry in the past.
THE EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTRY SAID THAT IT WAS ‘EXTREMELY DISCONCERTING THAT PRIVACY LAWS IN INDIA’ WERE UNDERMINED
Former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid had even dismissed the surveillance as merely “computer analysis”.
Reacting to the report based on a tranche of papers leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the external affairs ministry spokesperson said it was “extremely disconcerting that privacy laws in India” were undermined.
The document stamped July 16, 2010 is part of the court records authorising the NSA to spy on 193 countries, five political parties and other foreign entities like the World Bank. It seems that the authorisation came just four months before President Barack Obama travelled to India. The NSA needs permission from the Foreign I ntellig ence Surveillance Act (FISA) courts to spy on other entities.
The BJP was in the opposition when the spying was authorised. It is not clear from these documents if the spying was actually carried out. The BJP’s IT cell head Arvind Gupta said the party will take up the issue with an appropriate authority.
The documents have the highest security classification in the US and are marked “TOP SECRET” and “NOFORN” (No Foreign Nationals). The BJP is among five political parties – the Pakistan People’s Party from Pakistan, the Amal party of Lebanon, Muslim Brotherhood and National Salvation Front from Egypt and the Bolivaria Continental Coordinator from Venezuela.
India is listed in the document as one of the 193 countries that the NSA was authorised to spy on. Documents released earlier show that New Delhi has been identified as one of the 84 cities across the world as a “Special Collection Site” by the NSA. The Agency also targeted the Indian Embassy in Washington and the Permanent Mission to the UN in New York using a variety of means. These documents also revealed that the NSA had deals with over 80 private corporations to spy on countries like India.
The NSA also received permission to spy on international organisations like the Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries among others.