It could be a coincidence or an attempt to brazen it out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi waxed eloquent on India-Israel ties January 29, a day after the New York Times reported the Israeli spyware Pegasus and a missile system were the ‘centrepieces’ of a roughly $ 2 billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017. The report and the damning ‘disclosure’ proves false the Centre’s persistent denial of ever buying the spyware. A massive controversy had erupted last year when the NSO Group of Israel hit the headlines over 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. This caused consternation among the people as the spyware was suspected to have been used to invade their privacy through access to their mobile phones that could track all their calls, messages and even their movements in their homes and outside as captured in the camera of their mobile sets.
The NYT, in a report titled ‘The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon’, said that the Israeli firm NSO Group had, for nearly a decade, been selling its surveillance software on a subscription basis to law enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, promising that it could do what no one else – not a private company, not even a state intelligence service – could do. It could consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone. Noteworthy is that it not only can collect present data but is capable of gathering messages and other past data also.
The report also referred to Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel in July 2017 – to become the first Indian prime minister to visit the country. That itself, the report suggested, showed there was more to the visit than met the eye. For decades, India had followed a policy of ‘commitment to the Palestinian cause’ that resulted in frosty relations with Israel. The Modi visit, however, was very cordial and then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart were seen walking together barefoot on a local beach.
The NYT report says the two leaders had every reason to feel happy and warm towards each other as their countries had agreed on the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear. 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 organisation, a first for this nation.
As if to confirm the NYT report about Modi’s bonhomie with Israel for handing over to his government the spyware to carry out targeted surveillance on citizens he considers inimical to his political career, Modi said, in a video message January 29, the importance of India-Israel relations “grew even further with the changing global scenario.” When the world is witnessing important changes, the importance of India-Israel relations has increased even more, the PM said on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Israel. Apparently to create the impression that there is nothing amiss, Modi even went a step further to say there cannot be a better opportunity than now for setting new targets for mutual cooperation between the two nations when India is celebrating 75 years of its Independence and Israel will do so next year. The rhetoric was not missed on the Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett who delivered a video message on the occasion iterating India and Israel shared much in common and their relations would grow from strength to strength. Several monuments in India and Israel were also lit up on the occasion.
Interestingly, a Supreme Court advocate, Manohar Lal Sharma, has circulated in the media a signed online copy of a plea he claims to have filed in the apex court for an investigation into the purported disclosure in the NYT that India had bought Pegasus spyware. His plea is the apex court issue necessary direction to register FIR for investigation to recover public money paid for the alleged deal keeping the Parliament in the dark and prosecute concerned persons, including the PM, in accordance with law. The advocate is one of the petitioners who had earlier approached the SC seeking a probe into whether the Indian government possessed the spyware and had used it to snoop on citizens, including parliamentarians, journalists, activists, court staffers and even its own Ministers.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had in a 46-page order October 27 last year set up an expert technical committee monitored by a retired SC judge, Justice RV Raveendran, to inquire into the allegations of spying and file a report. The order came after the government did not file a ‘detailed affidavit’ in court in response to the petitions, citing national security reasons among others. The SC came down heavily on the government for using national security as a pretext for stonewalling investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by the government. The Justice Raveendran committee recently invited persons who suspect themselves of being snooped on to come forward and hand over their electronic equipment for technical examination to detect the presence of the spyware.
This Budget session, like the Winter session, of the Parliament, is going to be stormy on the Pegasus issue as the Opposition is gearing up to take on the government for denying on the floor of the House any deal with the NSO and snooping. The apex court, the Opposition also demands, should take suo motu action after the NYT disclosures.
It remains to be seen how the government crawls out of this imbroglio now.