The battle between the Centre and the opposition suddenly picked pace on Saturday after a report in The New York Times claimed that the Israeli spyware Pegasus and a missile system were the centerpieces of a roughly USD 2 billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017. While the opposition was quick to attack the BJP-ruled government over the “illegal snooping that amounts to “treason”, top sources in the government told CNN-News18 that the accusations are “baseless” as “deals carried out by the Centre are always in public information and not carried out secretly”.
A massive controversy erupted last year when the NSO Group hit the headlines with the alleged use of its Pegasus software by some governments to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and others in a number of countries, including India, triggered concerns over issues relating to privacy.
According to the report which sites a year-long investigation into the issue, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had bought and tested the spyware, as well, for years “with plans to use it for domestic surveillance”, until the agency finally decided last year not to deploy the tools.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged the Modi government “bought” Pegasus to “spy on our primary democratic institutions, politicians and public”. “Govt functionaries, opposition leaders, armed forces, judiciary all were targeted by these phone tappings. This is treason,” he tweeted.
“Modi Govt has committed treason.” Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said on Twitter, “Why did Modi Govt act like the enemies of India and use a warfare weapon against Indian citizens?” “Illegal snooping using Pegasus amounts to treason. No one is above the law and we will ensure that justice is served,” he said.
Indian government sources, however, said all technology requires proper testing which takes a long amount of time, and that third party software cannot be purchased without consultation from local experts.
The sources said Pegasus is a private company, while categorically denying any such direct or indirect deals with the Israel government, adding that these were not needed in the first place.
The New York Times report goes into detail about how the spyware was used around the world, including by Mexico to target journalists and dissidents, and by Saudi Arabia to target women’s rights activists and associates of murdered columnist Jamal Khashoggi. According to the report, Pegasus was provided to Poland, Hungary, India, and other countries under a new set of deals authorised by the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
The report outlines Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in July 2017, claiming the countries had agreed on the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion — “with Pegasus and a missile system as the centerpieces”.
In July 2021, a global consortium of media organisations had claimed the spyware had been used by several governments around the world to snoop on opponents, journalists, businessmen, among others.
The Wire had said in a report at the time that among the potential targets were Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, political strategist Prashant Kishor, then-Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, now Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw (who was not the minister at the time), and several other prominent names. The list also included the phone numbers of approximately 40 journalists.
(With inputs from Manoj Gupta in New Delhi)
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