Defence Ministry had no transaction with NSO group, minister tells Rajya Sabha
Aug 09, 2021
New Delhi [India], August 10 : Defence Ministry on Monday told the Parliament that it did not have any transaction with NSO Group Technologies.
"Ministry of Defence has not had any transaction with NSO Group Technologies," Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
The Israel-based NSO Group Technologies has built Pegasus spyware. Opposition parties in parliament have been staging protests and forcing adjournments in both Houses of parliament over their demand for a probe into allegations of surveillance using Pegasus spyware.
They have been holding the protests since the beginning of the monsoon session of parliament on July 19.
The government had said earlier that illegal surveillance was not possible with checks and balances in the country's laws and there was "no substance" behind sensationalism.
Bhatt also said that expenditure incurred on foreign procurement by Defence Services has increased over the past three years. He said its was Rs 45,705.57 crore, Rs 47,961.47 crore and Rs 53,118.58 crore in 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 respectively.
He also gave figures of expenditure against the budgetary allocation of the ministry.
