Amid a raging political storm in the country over alleged snooping attempts using Pegasus, the Defence Ministry on Monday said it had not made any transaction with Israeli firm NSO Group Technologies—the developers of the spyware.
The ministry made the statement in Rajya Sabha in response to a question raised by CPI(M) MP V. Sivadasan who had asked if the Defence Ministry had carried out any business transaction with the Israeli firm.
"The Ministry of Defence has not had any transaction with NSO Group Technologies,” said Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt in his written reply.
An international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on a list of potential targets for surveillance using Israeli firm NSO's Pegasus spyware.
Two union ministers—Prahlad Singh Patel and Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw— opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, businessman Anil Ambani, a former CBI chief, and at least 40 journalists are on the list on the leaked database of NSO. It is, however, not established that all the phones were hacked.
The opposition has been insisting on a discussion in Parliament and demanding a probe into the snooping scandal. Since the start of the monsoon session on July 19, parliamentary proceedings have been continuously witnessing disruptions due to protests by opposition parties.
The government has been denying all opposition allegations in the matter.
