The Congress-ruled central government in 1994 had reportedly played down media reports suggesting Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was a spy for British intelligence agency MI6. According to some of the files declassified by the Narendra Modi government currently in power, the Centre in 1994 had decided to give the matter as little publicity as possible, reported PTI. The allegations about Bose were made in a series of articles published in Moscow in the magazine Asia and Africa Today.

According to the report, it was concluded at the meeting that the articles had not attracted any attention in India and were unlikely to do so. In case they did appear in local media, its “ripple effects were likely to be minimal” since Bose was depicted in “a patriotic light as an opponent of fascism”. The meeting also concluded that the Indian government’s response on the allegations was to be minimal and “as low as possible”.

Declassified files also reportedly showed that the government was paying for the freedom fighter’s remains to stay at Japan's Renkoji temple, after the Bose Academy in Japan recommended the Indian government to take his remains before Netaji’s birth centenary in 1997. The file on the meeting said maintenance charges to the temple may be increased to meet rising costs and that a decision could be taken closer to Netaji’s birth centenary celebrations.