Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the State Department and \u201cdeep state\u201d elements in the US of trying to destabilise India in conjunction with a group of investigative journalists and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The accusation comes as a surprise as New Delhi and Washington have forged a strong relationship in the last two decades and both have vowed to further strengthen ties despite some differences and irritants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gandhi\u2019s Congress party used the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)\u2019s articles that \u201csingularly focused\u201d on the Adani Group and its alleged closeness to the government to undermine Modi, the ruling party said on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Group chair Gautam Adani and seven others were indicted<\/a> last month in the US for being part of a $265 billion scheme to bribe Indian officials \u2014 allegations the group has termed \u201cbaseless<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OCCRP\u2019s articles have also accused state-sponsored hackers in India of using Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to target government critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The government has previously denied both allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The BJP has previously accused Gandhi, the OCCRP and 92-year-old billionaire financier-philanthropist George Soros of attacking Modi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Thursday, it cited a French media report that said<\/a> that OCCRP was funded by the US Agency for International Development and \u201cother deep state figures\u201d like Soros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n