India Asks US Not To Repeat Acts Like Spying

Following The Washington Post revelation that the Bharatiya Janata Party was among the six political parties across the world that were under US surveillance in 2010, the government summoned interim US ambassador Kathleen Stephens.

The move comes even as visiting senior US Senator and former presidential nominee John McCain met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

The Washington Post had published documents released by the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden, which revealed the US surveillance agency had received official permission to spy upon six political parties across the world, including the BJP.
According to reports, the government has sought an assurance from Washington that such acts will not happen again in the future. "The government told the US diplomats that its concerns remain and want the US to revert on facts. India wants an assurance that such acts will not be repeated," an official said.

According to the latest document revealed by Snowden, NSA had the ‘official authority’ to spy upon the BJP, Lebanon's Amal (which has links to Hezbollah), the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator of Venezuela (with links to FARC), Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and National Salvation Front and Pakistan People's Party.