US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and his Indian counterpart Salman Khourshid (file photo).<\/p>\n
India\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid has defended US espionage programs revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, saying it does not constitute \u00c5\u201csnooping.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
“This is not scrutiny and access to actual messages. It is only computer analysis of patterns of calls and emails that are being sent… it is not actually snooping on the content of anyone’s messages or conversations,” Khurshid said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
He made his remarks in Brunei, attending an Asian security forum along with his American counterpart John Kerry and regional foreign ministries.<\/p>\n
The Indian foreign minister went on to say that, \u00c5\u201cSome of the information they got out of their scrutiny; they were able to use it to prevent serious terrorist attacks in several countries.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Earlier, India condemned US surveillance programs, with a foreign ministry spokesman warning that such acts infringe privacy and would be unacceptable.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
On June 6, the UK\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Guardian newspaper revealed that a top-secret US court order allows the US National Security Agency (NSA) to collect data on the millions of Americans who are customers of major US phone company Verizon.\n<\/p>\n
On the same day, the Washington Post also reported that the NSA had direct access to internet servers, saying their source, a career intelligence officer, was horrified of the capabilities of the systems used by the top US spy agency.\n<\/p>\n
On June 9, 29-year-old Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, admitted his role in the leaks in a 12-minute video published by the British daily.\n<\/p>\n
The NSA scandal found even broader dimensions when Snowden revealed more information about the American agency\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s espionage against other countries.\n<\/p>\n
According to the information and documents leaked by Snowden, US Intelligence services were also spying on 38 embassies and diplomatic missions of its allies including India.\n<\/p>\n
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