India Bought Pegasus Spyware From Israel As Part Of Defence Deal In 2017: NYT Report

Quite contrary to the initial assumption that Pegasus was an off the desk deal, it has come to light that Pegasus was a centrepiece of a 2017 deal of a $2-billion package for weapons that included a missile system, The New York Times reported on January 28. The investigation, which has now been going for over a year, indicated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also had bought and tested the same spyware "for years with plans to use it for domestic surveillance until the agency finally decided last year not to deploy the tools."

The report mentioned above also notes how the spyware was put into action globally by countries for nefarious purposes, particularly by countries with authoritarian tendencies.

Mexico had used the software to target specific journalists and dissidents, while Saudi Arabia had used it to spy on women's rights activists and associates of Jamal Khashoggi - who was reported to have been killed by Saudi government operatives. Among the other countries which purchased the software were India, Hungary, Poland, and other nations under new deals licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Defence.

The Pegasus Deal!

While pointing out Prime Minister Narendra Modi's iconic visit to Israel in July 2017 – which was also the first by any Indian PM to that country – the report claimed that the visit came even as "India had maintained a policy" of what is known as "commitment to the Palestinian cause," and "relations with Israel were frosty."

The news publication also mentioned that the then Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had made a rare state visit to India a few months later. In June 2019, India had voted in support of Israel at the United Nation's Economic and Social Council to reject onlooker status to a "Palestinian human rights organization."

No Responsibility Taken

Thus far, neither the Israeli Government nor the Indian Government has admitted that India bought Pegasus. A global consortium of media groups revealed in July 2021 that several governments worldwide had used spyware to snoop on businessmen, opponents, journalists, etc. This caused a massive uproar over citizens' privacy and a renewed call for its protection.

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