PM Imran Khan’s number targeted through Israeli spyware, sources

India beleaguered a phone which was earlier in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s use through an Israeli firm’s malware, Haaretz reported Monday, burning fears of prevalent privacy and rights exploitations.

Several Pakistani officials, Kashmiri freedom fighters, Indian Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and even an Indian Supreme Court judge were targeted, stated the publication.

According to sources that India strained to tap the Federal Cabinet members’ calls and messages through the spyware, prompting Pakistan to progress new software for its federal ministers.

Following the development, a high-level meeting of the civil and military leadership was called which will resolve a future course of action against India’s spying effort.

Whereas, Gandhi in response to the development stated: “Targeted surveillance of the type you describe, whether in regard to me, other leaders of the opposition, or indeed any law-abiding citizen of India, is illegal and deplorable.”

“If your information is correct, the scale and nature of surveillance you describe go beyond an attack on the privacy of individuals. It is an attack on the democratic foundations of our country. It must be thoroughly investigated, and those responsible be identified and punished.”

The Congress leader changes his cellphone after every few months in an attempt to avoid being hacked.

According to the publication, New Delhi did not approve nor deny whether it was a client of the Israeli firm NSO or not, but its laws do not quandary the government to reveal the use of said technology.

India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, replying to questions from a Private newspaper, said the statement that particular people were beleaguered “had no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever.”

“Any interception, monitoring, or decryption of any information through any computer resource is done as per the due process of law,” it added.

Furthermore, according to Reuters, India is Israel’s major arms purchaser, which buys around $1 billion worth of weapons every year.