Israeli ambassador said, NSO the maker of Pegasus software, is a private company, allegations of Pegasus spyware use and its probe by the SC are India’s internal matter.
New Delhi: Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon on Thursday said allegations of Pegasus spyware use and its probe by the Supreme Court are purely an internal matter of India and refused to comment on it.
At a press conference in New Delhi, Israel’s new ambassador to India, Gilon said NSO, the maker of Pegasus software, is a private company. Considering the type of software, it is mandatory to take an export license for it.
“NSO is a private company which has developed Pegasus. They need to get an export license from Israel due to the nature of the software. We make it a point not to enable it to export it to non-state actors. Don’t know what’s happening on it here, it’s India’s internal matter,” Gilon said.
Pegasus spyware issue is India's internal matter: Israeli ambassador #PegasusSpyware @IsraelinIndia https://t.co/rOaIGIc8lX
— The Newsmen (@the_newsmen) October 28, 2021
He was asked whether the Indian government had contacted the Israeli government regarding an investigation into the matter. He did not give a clear response.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said as there is no clear stand taken by the Centre on the Pegasus spyware case, it has no option but to accept the submission in a petition seeking an independent court-monitored probe, and appoint a three-member expert committee headed by RV Raveendran, former Supreme Court Judge to look into the allegations raised.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana and also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, passed the order on a batch of petitions alleging widespread and targeted surveillance of politicians, journalists, activists among others using the Pegasus spyware.