Politics in the country has heated up again over the Pegasus issue. The New York Times reports that the controversy has resurfaced. Former Indian Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Syed Akbaruddin has now jumped on the bandwagon.
Former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations (UN) Syed Akbaruddin has termed the New York Times (NYT) 's claim in the Pegasus dispute as a grave mistake. India and Israel signed an agreement worth about दोन 2 billion in 2017. The state-of-the-art weapons and intelligence equipment are linked to India's vote in favor of Israel at the United Nations in 2019, the New York Times reported.
Akbaruddin described the opinion as "low-level". In 2019, no one from New Delhi, Israel or Palestine contacted the Indian Mission in New York. Akbaruddin said it was a "terrible" mistake to link the Pegasus agreement to a spy tool in exchange for votes at the UN. But he did not comment on the main point of the case, which claims that India bought Pegasus spyware from the Israeli security firm NSO.
"Our relations (India and Israel) have improved. There is no doubt about it. This has been seen by all in the United Nations. I wrote in my book that Israel had supported an Indian judge in the ICJ (International Court of Justice). I don't think it has anything to do with it. The New York Times has made a terrible mistake on this issue, "said Akbaruddin.
"It simply came to our notice then. At that time many countries came forward and said that they found some links which the NGO did not reveal in the initial presentation. So we had to make a decision. Because we had a lot of concerns about the infiltration of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) terrorists. India had proposed a draft for reconsideration. When the matter came up, my colleague in charge of the committee approached me. "Ambassador, what do you want to do?" He asked. Well, this is a terrorist issue, I told them inside the eyelid. If you delay this meeting, why do you have any problem with it? ' That's what he was saying. I never consulted with anyone and gave the necessary instructions. Because it was consistent with our policy. No one from New Delhi or the Palestinians contacted me on or after that. Because she was an NGO. Surprisingly, the New York Times took a different tack on a small NGO and linked it to a larger story. No idea of the big story. I was the permanent representative in New York, ”Akbaruddin explained. This was reported by NDTV.
The New York Times linked the Pegasus case to a vote in favor of Israel on the issue of granting observer status to a Palestinian NGO working in the field of human rights protection at the UN Socio-Economic Council (UNSEC) in June 2019. This terrible mistake was made by the New York Times, he said.
The nearly दोन 2 billion deal between India and Israel for state-of-the-art weapons and intelligence equipment included the purchase of Pegasus spyware and missile systems. The agreement was reached in 2017, according to a report in the New York Times.