Jeffrey Epstein tried to broker a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon in 2019, less than two months before his arrest, according to documents released by the U.S. House Oversight Committee and a cache of 18,000 Epstein emails obtained by Drop Site News.
It shows Epstein pushing the meeting as strategically significant, telling Bannon that “you should meet with Modi,” and later messaging that “Modi on board.”
In the correspondence, Epstein pushed the meeting as strategically significant, telling Bannon that “you should meet with Modi,” and later messaging that “Modi on board.”
On the day of Modi’s re-election victory, Bannon messaged Epstein that he was doing “a one hour show for India on Modi,” and Epstein responded, “his focus wants to be stopping China.”
Bannon later went on Indian television to discuss Modi and the geopolitical importance of the U.S.–India alliance. Epstein continued to press the meeting, telling Bannon that India and the U.S. shared strategic goals, writing, “you are missing a great opportunity,” and adding, “look at your underwear, it either says made in China or made in India.”
India, once a vocal supporter of Palestinian self-determination, has in recent years deepened its security, technology, and trade ties with Israel, becoming one of Tel Aviv’s most important partners outside the West.
Following high-profile state visits by Modi and Netanyahu in 2017 and 2018, India signed multibillion-dollar agreements for anti-tank and surface-to-air missile systems, becoming the single largest buyer of Israeli arms, even as the Gaza genocide unfolded.
Drop Site notes that years before this shift became visible, Epstein’s private calendars listed multiple appointments between 2014 and 2017 with senior BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri, long after Epstein’s conviction.
At the time, Puri was vice president of the International Peace Institute, led by Terje Rød-Larsen, a close Epstein associate involved in regional security initiatives connected to Israeli interests. Epstein had meetings scheduled with Puri at least five times, including in New York, according to the House Oversight disclosures. Puri later joined Modi’s cabinet and now heads the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Drop Site News also found that Epstein corresponded directly about India–Israel coordination with Indian billionaire Anil Ambani, whose Reliance Defence had entered a major joint venture with Rafael, Israel’s state-owned defence manufacturer.
In March 2017, Ambani emailed Epstein a news article about Modi’s planned U.S. visit, signing it “BR, Anil,” to which Epstein replied, “India Israel key, not for email,” adding elsewhere that the visit was “part of Israel strategy.”
Drop Site’s reporting highlights that Ambani’s defence ventures with Israel coincided with soaring Indo-Israeli weapons contracts, and that Epstein’s communications fit into his wider pattern of facilitating geopolitical deals with figures tied to Israeli intelligence networks.
The documents also show Epstein engaging with Indian businessmen dating back to 2006, attempting acquisitions in Dubai and courting investors in the Indian luxury sector.
Meanwhile, a resurfaced email in which Epstein wrote “girls? careful I will renew an old habit” triggered an online uproar in India this week, after Puri’s name appeared in the larger email thread, although Drop Site notes the message referred to an unrelated aside and was misconstrued on social media.
A senior BJP leader later responded publicly, saying the thread “contains no reference whatsoever to anyone being supplied with girls.”
Epstein died in a Manhattan jail that August. Weeks later, Modi appeared with Donald Trump at the Houston “Howdy Modi” rally, declaring “Abki baar, Trump sarkar,” a slogan widely criticised as an attempt to influence the U.S. election. Modi’s office did not respond to Drop Site News’ requests for comment.
According to a new report released by the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA), Indian corporations and state-owned enterprises are playing a significant role in sustaining Israel’s war economy in Gaza through investments and partnerships across multiple sectors.
