New Delhi, India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the US State Department is trying to "destabilise India", adding that the US "deep state" elements are "targeting PM Modi". 

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Sambit Patra, the spokesperson of the ruling BJP, said that the US deep state has been involved with a group of journalists and with the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi to pull down India's growth story with unsubstantiated allegations and malicious reports without a "shred of evidence". 

He further stressed that all of this is in conjunction with the US State Department. 

During a press conference, he said, "It has always been the US State Department behind this agenda."

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This comes as a surprise as India and the US have been sharing a strong relationship in the last two decades. 

Patra also said that the opposition Congress has used the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)'s articles that "singularly focused" on the Adani group and its alleged proximity with the Indian government to undermine PM Modi. 

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Last month, Gautam Adani, the group's chairman, and seven others were indicted in the United States for being part of a $265 billion scheme to bribe Indian officials. 

The OCCRP's articles have further accused state-sponsored hackers in India of using Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to target government critics.

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The OCCRP was funded by the US Agency for International Department and "other deep state figures" like George Soros, the BJP spokesperson said citing a French media report. 

"The Deep State had a clear objective to destabilise India by targeting Prime Minister Modi," he said, adding, "It has always been the US State Department behind this agenda...OCCRP has served as a media tool for carrying out a deep state agenda."

"A French investigative media group has revealed that 50 per cent of OCCRP's funding comes directly from the US State Department," Patra said.

The BJP spokesperson also accused Rahul Gandhi of being a "traitor of the highest order", saying that "some agencies of America" and billionaire George Soros make a "dangerous triangle trying to destabilise India".

The US State Department, US AID, billionaire financier-philanthropist George Soros, and the Congress party are yet to respond to these allegations. 

Meanwhile, OCCRP issued a statement, saying, "The US government, while providing some funding to OCCRP, has no say in our editorial processes and no control over our reporting."

(With inputs from agencies)