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Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Tuesday cast doubts on the veracity of the revelations of US cyber snooping and said that the Indian government should be allowed to study the report and take a "holistic view" on the issue.
"Since these are revelations which are coming from an individual, they are really hearsay, it is not as if this is verified information that is being put in the public space. We also need to see the other aspect of it as to how seriously should we take unverified content," Tewari told news channel Times Now.
"I think we should allow government to formulate a holistic view. We will apply ourselves to whatever has been written in those communications so that the government can take a holistic view as to how best to respond to it," he added.
Tewari said the matter does raise some issues which not only pertain to access of data in an authorized or an unauthorized manner but also to the larger questions of diplomatic immunity of communications and sanctity of the Geneva Convention protocols which are involved.
A report published in the Guardian quoted US National Security Agency documents leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden revealing that the agencies were using a wide range of spying methods, including bugging of 38 embassies, among these India's.
