NEW DELHI — India bought Israeli spyware Pegasus in 2017 as part of a big arms deal with Israel, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Friday.
In an investigation report titled “The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon”, the publication revealed that the access to the controversial spyware, classified as military-grade software and produced by the NSO group, was part of a “package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence worth roughly $2 billion” between the two countries.
The year-long investigation, NYT reported, examined how the US’s Federal Bureau of investigation, bought and tested the 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 also detailed how the Pegasus software was sold to India, Hungary and Poland under a set of new deals licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Defence. It also sheds light on how the software was used worldwide, by Mexico to target dissidents and journalists, and by Saudi Arabia against women’s rights activists as well as associates of columnist Jamal Khashoggi who was killed by members of Saudi security.
According to the report, India’s access to the Pegasus spyware tool was sealed in the year 2017. The report also claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel came even as “India had maintained a policy” of what the country called “commitment to the Palestinian cause,” and “relations with Israel were frosty.” It further stated the “Pegasus and a missile system” were the “centerpieces” of a larger defence package worth $2 billion.
“In July 2017, Narendra Modi, who won office on a platform of Hindu nationalism, became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel…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 stated.
“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,” it noted, adding that 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 NYT report doesn’t provide any further details on the specifics of the deal or which government agency or department procured Pegasus on behalf of the Indian government.
Thus far, neither India nor Israel has admitted that the former bought the Pegasus spyware tool. On January 2, the technical committee appointed by the Supreme Court had issued a public notice asking citizens to come forward and contact the panel if they suspected that their mobile devices were infected by Pegasus malware.
The public notice asked such citizens to also specify the reasons as to why they believed that their device may have been infected with Pegasus malware and whether they would be in a position to allow the technical committee to examine the said device.
A global consortium of international media groups had disclosed in July 2021 that the spyware was used by many governments across the world to snoop on opponents, businessmen, journalists etc.
In October last year, the Supreme Court directed a panel of experts to investigate whether the government used military-grade private Israeli Pegasus spyware to surveil opposition leaders, activists, tycoons, judges and journalists.
The apex court had also observed that the state cannot get a “free pass” every time the spectre of national security is raised and that its mere invocation cannot render the judiciary a “mute spectator” and be the bugbear it shies away from.