BJP reacts cautiously to reports US might have spied on party

According a Washington Post report, a US court authorised NSA to put 193 entities under surveillance

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reacted cautiously to a report that it was one of six political organisations which America’s top spy agency was given permission by a US court to spy upon in 2010.

According to a report in The Washington Post, published on Monday, a US court authorised the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2010 to put under surveillance 193 entities. These included countries, foreign factions and political organisations.

The list of foreign political organisations approved for surveillance featured six entities – the BJP, Lebanon's Amal, the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator of Venezuela, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian National Salvation Front and the Pakistan Peoples' Party.

In New Delhi, BJP leaders were circumspect when asked to react on the news report. Party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said he was sure India’s external affairs ministry would take note of the report and take necessary steps. “This report is a matter of concern,” he said. BJP’s IT Cell chief Arvind Gupta termed the report a “matter of great concern and interference with democratic process”.

Another BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said the Americans had anticipated as early as 2010 that they would need to engage with his party much more in the days to come. “Some of the scams, like the Commonwealth Games and 2G, were already being reported in 2010. It was evident the Congress was losing ground and only the BJP could have replaced it at the Centre. This possibly could have been the reason for putting us under surveillance,” the leader said.

All 193 entities were part of a 2010 certification approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. India is one of the countries. “These are the entities about which the NSA may conduct surveillance, for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence,” the paper said, furnishing documents provided to it by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The Post reported each year a new certification must be approved from the court to permit such surveillance under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act.

“Virtually, no foreign government is off-limits for the National Security Agency, which has been authorised to intercept information ‘concerning’ all but four countries, according to top-secret documents,” The Post reported.

The four countries are Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The certification of surveillance also includes other international organisations like World Bank, IMF, the European Union, Mercosur, African Union, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The NSA is not necessarily targeting all the countries or organizations identified in the certification, the affidavits and an accompanying exhibit; it has only been given authority to do so,\" The Post said.

Without specifically responding to questions related to surveillance on India and the BJP in particular, NSA spokesperson Vanee' Vines told PTI that the agency collects foreign intelligence based on specific intelligence requirements set by the President, the Director of National Intelligence, and departments and agencies through the National Intelligence Priorities Framework.

Snowden leaked thousands of classified documents to media uncovering the existence of numerous global surveillance programmes, many of them run by the NSA, triggering an outrage worldwide.