- India reportedly signed the arms deal during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017.
- Other countries, including the United States and Mexico, had also purchased Pegasus.
- The spyware was part of a “approximately $2 billion package of advanced weapons and intelligence equipment” between India and Israel.
NEW DELHI: As part of its $2 billion defense deal of advanced weapons and intelligence equipment, India had purchased controversial Israeli-made Pegasus spyware in 2017, The New York Times reported.
According to reports, India had reportedly signed the arms deal – the first by a prime minister – during Narendra Modi’s historic visit to the country.
Classified as military-grade software and produced by Israeli company NSO Group, the spyware was part of a “package of advanced weapons and intelligence equipment worth about $2 billion” between India and Israel, the report said. The Battle for the ‘World’s Most Powerful Cyber Weapon’.
In addition, the report went on to say that Modi’s visit came even when “India had maintained a policy” of what it called “commitment to the Palestinian cause” and “relations with Israel were frosty.”
However, Modi’s visit was most cordial, complete with a carefully staged moment of him and Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu walks barefoot together on a local beach. They had a reason for the warm feelings. Their countries had agreed to sell a package of state-of-the-art weapons and intelligence equipment worth about $2 billion — centered on Pegasus and a missile system.”
According to the details, Netanyahu paid a rare state visit to India months later, and in June 2019, “India voted for Israel in the UN Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organization, a first for the nation.”
Other countries that bought Pegasus
India is not the only country to have bought the Pegasus, several other countries including the United States, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Hungary have also bought the spyware to spy on politicians, journalists, human rights defenders and others, NYT reported. one year of research.
It further revealed that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been buying and testing the spyware for years “with plans to use it for home surveillance until the agency finally decided not to deploy the tools last year.”
The report added that for nearly a decade, the NSO Group “has been selling its subscription-based surveillance software to law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, promising it could do what no one else — not a private company, not even a state intelligence agency — can do.” could do: consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone.”
Court, media trial against Pegasus
The media outlet went on to say that a political storm erupted after an international media consortium reported last year that more than 300 verified cell phone numbers of leading personalities, including opposition leaders and ministers in India, could be the target of hacking via Israeli Pegasus spyware sold only to government agencies.
However, it added that the BJP government had categorically rejected accusations of any form of surveillance on its part of specific people, as attempts were made to “harm” Indian democracy.
The Supreme Court assembled a three-member independent panel of experts last October to investigate the alleged use of the Israeli spyware Pegasus, noting that the state cannot take a “free pass” every time the national security specter is raised. and that the mere invocation of it cannot turn the judiciary into a “dumb bystander” and be the bugbear it shrinks from.
