Pakistan wades into Pegasus row; accuses India of spying on Imran Khan, demands UN probe

Wading into the Pegasus 'snooping' row on Friday, Pakistan condemned India in the "strongest possible terms" for allegedly spying on its Prime Minister Imran Khan. The controversy came to the fore when French non-profit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International accessed a leaked database of 50,000 phone numbers that were allegedly targeted by Pegasus. The news publications claimed that not only Khan but 9 other PMs, 3 presidents and a king also were "potential targets" of surveillance using this spyware.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement accused the Indian government of indulging in "organized spying" of its citizens as well as foreigners. In a preposterous claim, the Imran Khan-led government stressed that this was a "ploy" to commit "human rights violations" in Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, it called upon the relevant bodies of the United Nations to probe the snooping affair, bring the facts to light and hold the perpetrators to account. 

Centre rejects claims

As per media reports, the Pegasus spyware targeted over 300 Indian mobile numbers including that of 40 journalists, businesspersons, one constitutional authority, three opposition leaders and two sitting Ministers in the Union government. The database also allegedly contained the numbers of activists who are accused and incarcerated in the Bhima Koregaon case. However, the NSO Group categorically rubbished these allegations and cast doubts on the reliability of the sources.

In response to Republic TV's queries, the Israeli-based firm stated, "They originally claimed that the 50,000 numbers were found on an NSO server. After realizing that it’s impossible since Pegasus has never been licensed that many numbers, and because NSO servers do not have such kind of data, the editors quickly turned their story into a massive ‘what if’, only not to ruin a good headline". It added, "Yet, somehow, the editors decided to run with this story, even after it became clear that their unidentified sources had misled them, most likely intentionally". 

Making a statement on this issue in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated, "A highly sensational story was published by a web portal on the 18th July 2021. Many over-the-top allegations have been made around this story. Honourable Chairman Sir, the press reports have appeared a day before the Monsoon session of Parliament. This cannot be a coincidence, honourable Chairman Sir. In the past, similar claims were made regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp. Those reports had no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties including in the Supreme Court."