The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday, 4 February, said that it does not have any information relating to the Pegasus snooping controversy.
Responding to questions about a recent New York Times report that suggests that India had acquired the spyware during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Israel in 2017, MEA 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.”MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, as quoted by PTI
“As regards the prime minister’s visit to Israel in 2017, MoUs were signed, the details of which are publicly available,” Bagchi added.
An investigative project conducted by The Wire, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and others had revealed in July that Israel-made spyware Pegasus was believed to have been used to snoop on at least 300 Indian phone numbers, including those of over 40 senior journalists, opposition leaders, government officials, and rights activists.
The Indian government had subsequently denied any knowledge of the use of Pegasus, a remote surveillance product of Israeli cyberweapons company NSO Group.
India's purchase of the spyware, the NYT report alleges, was part of a "package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion" between the Indian and the Israeli governments.
The Supreme Court in October had ordered the setting up of an expert committee overseen by a retired judge of the apex court to examine the use of Pegasus spyware against Indian citizens, and to check whether the right to privacy had been violated. The committee's report is awaited.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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