NEW DELHI: India bought controversial Israeli-made Pegasus spyware in 2017 as part of a USD 2-billion defence deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear, The New York Times reported.
India had reportedly signed the arms deal during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landmark visit to Israel – the first by an Indian Prime Minister to that country.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The report titled ‘The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon’, claimed that the spyware, which is classified as military-grade software and produced by the Israeli firm NSO Group, was part of a “package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly USD two billion” between India and Israel.
The NYT report said that PM Modi’s visit came even as “India had maintained a policy” of what it called “commitment to the Palestinian cause,” and “relations with Israel were frosty.”
“The Modi visit, however, was notably cordial, complete with a carefully staged moment of him and Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu walking together barefoot on a local beach. They had reason for the warm feelings. Their countries had agreed on the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly USD two billion — with Pegasus and a missile system as the centrepieces,” said the report.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
According to the newspaper, months later, Netanyahu made a rare state visit to India and in June 2019, “India voted in support of Israel at the UN’s Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organization, a first for the nation.”
Last year, a row erupted over Israeli spyware Pegasus allegedly being used for targeted surveillance in India.
The government, however, dismissed allegations of any kind of surveillance on its part on specific people, saying it “has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever”.
In October last year, the Supreme Court set up a 3-member independent expert panel to probe the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for targeted surveillance in India, observing the state cannot get a “free pass” every time the spectre of national security is raised and that its mere invocation cannot render the judiciary a “mute spectator” and be the bugbear it shies away from.