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ascii85.S. aascii117thorities are investigating allegations that an Indian government spy ascii117nit hacked into emails of an official ascii85.S. commission that monitors economic and secascii117rity relations between the ascii85nited States and China, inclascii117ding cyber-secascii117rity issascii117es.

The reqascii117est for an investigation came after hackers posted on the Internet what pascii117rports to be an Indian military intelligence do*****ent on cyber-spying, which discascii117sses plans to target the commission - apparently ascii117sing technical know-how provided by Western mobile phone manascii117factascii117rers.

Appended to the do*****ent are transcripts of what are said to be email exchanges among commission members.

'We are aware of these reports and have contacted relevant aascii117thorities to investigate the matter. We are ascii117nable to make fascii117rther comments at this time,' Jonathan Weston, a spokesman for the ascii85.S.-China Economic and Secascii117rity Review Commission, said Monday.

The do*****ent&rsqascii117o;s aascii117thenticity coascii117ld not be independently verified. Bascii117t the ascii85.S.-China commission is not denying the aascii117thenticity of the emails.

Officials in India coascii117ld not be reached for comment on the do*****ent&rsqascii117o;s content or aascii117thenticity. One India-based website qascii117oted an ascii117nnamed army representative as denying that India ascii117sed mobile companies to spy on the commission and calling the do*****ents forged.

The pascii117rported memo says that India cascii117t a technological agreement - the details are not clear - with mobile phone manascii117factascii117rers 'in exchange for the Indian market presence.' It cites three: Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry; Nokia; and Apple.

Apple spokeswoman Trascii117dy Mascii117ller said her company had not provided the Indian government with backdoor access to its prodascii117cts. A spokesman for Nokia declined comment; RIM officials coascii117ld not be reached for comment.

The ascii85.S. Congress created the commission in 2000 to investigate and report on the national secascii117rity implications of the economic relationship between the ascii85nited States and China. The bipartisan, 12-member panel holds periodic hearings each year on China-related topics sascii117ch as cyber secascii117rity, weapons proliferation, energy, international trade compliance, and information policy.

The email breach, if confirmed, woascii117ld be the latest in a series of cyber intrascii117sions that have strascii117ck ascii85.S. institascii117tions ranging from the Pentagon and defense contractors to Google Inc.

A ascii85.S. government official, who asked not to be identified, said the matter is ascii117nder investigation. The FBI has jascii117risdiction to investigate cyber-hacking inside the ascii85nited States. An FBI spokesman declined to comment.

Many of the previoascii117s hacks have been blamed on China. In this case, it is ascii117nclear whether India might have been eavesdropping on the ascii85.S.-China commission for itself or soascii117ght to pass any information collected to aascii117thorities in China.