Pegasus was among weapons India bought from Israel in 2017: Report

New Delhi: The snooping spyware Pegasus has been included in the $2-billion weapon deal that India and Israel had signed in 2017, a New York Times report revealed.

The report claims that the deal was signed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel in July 2017, first time by an Indian Prime Minister. The visit made headlines for the very reason that till then India had maintained a policy that was favourable to the Palestinian cause.

During the visit, Modi had signed a deal on which Israel will be selling weapons sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion — with Pegasus and a missile system as the centrepieces, the report said.

Months later Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu paid an official visit to India, following which India voted in support of Israel at the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organisation, a first for the nation, the New York Times report said.

Until now, neither the Indian Government nor the Israeli Government has admitted that India bought Pegasus.

A global consortium of media groups had revealed in July 2021 that the spyware had been used by several governments around the world to snoop on opponents, journalists, businessmen, etc.