India seeks assurances from U.S. over spying reports

(Reuters) - India summoned a senior U.S. diplomat on Wednesday to explain reports that the U.S. National Security Agency was authorised to spy on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party before he took office, and to seek assurances this would not happen in future. The U.S. State Department said it would not comment "on every specific alleged intelligence activity," but a spokeswoman said she hoped that relations with the new Indian government, which Washington is keen to develop, would not be harmed. According to a 2010 classified document leaked by former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden and published this week by the Washington Post, Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was among a handful of political organisations a U.S. court allowed the intelligence agency to spy on. The others included Lebanon's Hezbollah-allied group Amal, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, and the Pakistan Peoples Party, the leaked legal certification approved by U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court showed. Foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said that if the snooping reports were true, it would be "highly objectionable". The ministry said it summoned a senior U.S. diplomat to seek assurances that any such surveillance would not occur in future. "India has sought an explanation of the information contained in the press reports, and an assurance that such authorisations will not be acted upon by U.S. government entities," it said in a statement. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki declined to give details of what she called a "private" discussion. "We have a deep and broad partnership with India," she told a regular news briefing. "We will discuss any concerns we need to discuss though private diplomatic channels." Asked if the issue could have an impact on relations, she said: "We certainly hope not. We look forward to continuing discussions on a full range of bilateral and regional issues."