India bought Pegasus spyware from Israel as part of a defense deal worth $2 billion in 2017, The New York Times has reported. Through a series of new deals, Pegasus was helping to knit together a rising generation of right-wing leaders worldwide, the report said.
"In July 2017, Narendra Modi, who won office on a platform of Hindu nationalism, became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel. 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 Prime Minister Netanyahu walking together barefoot on a local beach. They had reason for the warm feelings", the report said.
Pegasus spyware can hack all the security features of the phone. | Wikimedia Commons
NYT reported, "Their 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. 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."
A year-long New York Times investigation, including dozens of interviews with government officials, leaders of intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, cyber weapons experts, business executives and privacy activists in a dozen countries, shows how Israel's ability to approve or deny access to NSO's cyber weapons has become entangled with its diplomacy.
The Congress alleged the Modi government with treason for snooping his rivals. | Unsplash
"The combination of Israel's search for influence and NSO's drive for profits has also led to the powerful spying tool's ending up in the hands of a new generation of nationalist leaders worldwide. Though the Israeli government's oversight was meant to prevent the powerful spyware from being used in repressive ways, Pegasus has been sold to Poland, Hungary and India, despite those countries' questionable records on human rights", NYT reported.
As per reports, the spyware Pegasus not only breaches the WhatsApp as also the phone but is able to turn over the cellphones camera and microphone to capture all activities in the vicinity of the phone, besides hacking all the security features of the phone, including listening to, and sending passwords, contact lists, calendar events, text messages, and live voice calls. It also can plant fake material into the cellphone to falsely incriminate people.
Addressing a press conference, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala jointly said that the snooping is an "act of treason". "The Modi Government is the deployer and executor of the illegal and unconstitutional snooping and spying racket through Israeli surveillance spyware Pegasus & the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is himself involved!" "This is a brazen 'Hijack of Democracy' & 'An Act of Treason'," they said.
In July 2017, Narendra Modi, became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel. | Wikimedia Commons
Not only the Congress but other political parties are planning to corner the government on the snooping row in the country. Former Congress Chief Minister in Maharashtra Prithvi Raj Chavan said, "Government must answer which spy agency procured it and who authorized it." Leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said, "We will seek the view of other political parties and then the further strategy will be decided."