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Have no information on this, says foreign ministry on deal to buy Pegasus
The external affairs ministry response came in response to a question on The New York Times report that the secret deal for Pegasus was finalised at the “highest levels” of the leadership of both countries.
NEW DELHI: The external affairs ministry said on Thursday it has no information regarding the report that India acquired the Pegasus spyware from the Israeli firm NSO Group as part of a $2 billion defence deal in 2017.
The report by The New York Times on January 29 had sparked a major controversy, with opposition parties accusing the government of illegal snooping that amounted to “treason”. An Israeli investigative journalist who co-wrote the Times’ report has said the secret deal for Pegasus was finalised at the “highest levels” of the leadership of both countries.
Asked about these reports at a weekly media briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “The alleged matter that has been referred to is under investigation by a committee set up by the Supreme Court. No information is available with the ministry of external affairs on this matter.”
Bagchi added that details of the seven memorandums of understanding signed during the prime minister’s visit to Israel in 2017 are “publicly available”.
The Times had reported that the Pegasus spyware and a missile system were the “centrepieces” of the $2 billion deal for sophisticated weapons and intelligence equipment between the two countries. The report had also said the deal was finalised during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017 – the first by an Indian premier.
The Indian government has not confirmed or denied acquiring military-grade spyware.
An international consortium of investigative journalists said last year that Indian politicians, ministers, activists, businessmen and journalists were targeted with Pegasus, the phone-hacking software of NSO Group.
The Israeli government has said it signs off on all deals for Pegasus and that the spyware is only sold to foreign governments.
