The Indian government bought Israeli spyware Pegasus in 2017 as part of a $2-billion package defence deal, according to The New York Times report.
Last year, a row erupted over Israeli spyware Pegasus allegedly being used for targeted surveillance on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians in India but the Government dismissed allegations of any kind of surveillance on its part on specific people.
However, report titled ‘The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon‘, said that the Israeli firm NSO Group had for nearly a decade been “selling its surveillance software on a subscription basis to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, promising that it could do what no one else — not a private company, not even a state intelligence service — could do: consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone.”
The report also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in July 2017 – to become the first Indian prime minister to visit the country.
For decades, 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 (then Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu walking together barefoot on a local beach,” it said
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 organisation, a first for the nation," the report said.
The report reveals how the spyware was used globally, by Mexico to target journalists and dissidents, and by Saudi Arabia against women’s rights activists and associates of columnist Jamal Khashoggi who was killed by Saudi operatives. It says that under a set of new deals licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Defence, Pegasus was provided to Poland, Hungary and India, and other countries.
Pegasus infect a device without the target’s engagement or knowledge; stealthily enter a smartphone and gain access to everything on it, including its camera and microphone.
The Pegasus spyware have been designed to infiltrate devices running Android, Blackberry, iOS and Symbian operating systems and turn them into surveillance devices.
