MoS VK Singh denies NYT report claiming 2017 Pegasus sale to India, terms it ‘supari Media’
Meanwhile, Opposition has demanded a clarification from the Centre after the NYT report claimed that the Modi govt purchased NSO's Pegasus spyware in 2017.
FollowDismissing the New York Times (NYT) report regarding Pegasus sale to India, Union minister Gen VK Singh on Saturday termed the US newspaper as ‘Supari Media’ i.e. (media involved in hit jobs). He questioned if NYT could be trusted.
The Israeli spyware Pegasus and a missile system were the “centrepieces” of a roughly USD 2 billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017, according to the report in The New York Times.
Meanwhile, Opposition has demanded a clarification from the Centre after the NYT report claimed that the Modi govt purchased NSO's Pegasus spyware in 2017.
Pulling up the Centre over the report, ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi termed the spying a ‘treason’. Echoing similar sentiments, TMC MP Mahua Moitra called the Pegasus purchase ‘part of larger quid pro quo’. Similarly, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said, “New York Times has blown the lid off Pegasus issue. We were not allowed to speak on the issue in Parliament. We are being spied on, BJP leaders are being spied upon”.
A massive controversy erupted last year when the NSO Group hit the headlines with the alleged use of its Pegasus software by some governments to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and others in a number of countries, including India, triggered concerns over issues relating to privacy.
The report also co-related the sale to India's vote and support of Israel at the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organization in June 2019. The report alleged that with the Israeli government’s oversight, NSO had knit together a 'rising generation of right-wing leaders worldwide'. Other client nations mentioned in the report are Mexico, Hungary, Poland, UAE, Saudi Arabia.
