Congress questions Starlink agreement, says PM Modi orchestrated deal

Elon Musk's SpaceX has entered into an agreement with telecom provider Airtel to introduce Starlink services in India. A day after Airtel, a deal was signed between Reliance's Jio Platforms and SpaceX

Jairam Ramesh, general secretary in-charge communications of the Congress party has targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi again, this time in connection with the partnerships between the telecom and satellite players.

 

US billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has entered into an agreement with telecom provider Airtel to introduce Starlink services in India. A day later, a deal was signed between Reliance’s Jio Platforms and Musk’s SpaceX. While Sunil Mittal has lauded and welcomed the partnership, the Congress party has alleged that these deals were ‘orchestrated’ by the prime minister to “buy goodwill” of US President Donald Trump through Elon Musk.

 

Sharing a post on X, Ramesh questioned how come both Airtel and Jio signed a deal with SpaceX just 12 hours apart, given that their previous objections regarding its entry to India have been overcome now, which they have been voicing for quite some time. He further added that many questions remain and the most important one is related to national security.

 

Deal sparks security concerns

 

In his post, he mentioned, “It is abundantly clear that these partnerships have been orchestrated by none other than the PM himself to buy goodwill with President Trump through Starlink’s owner Elon Musk. But many questions remain. Perhaps the most important one relates to national security. Who will have the power to switch connectivity on or off when national security demands it? Will it be Starlink or its Indian partners? Will other satellite-based connectivity providers also be permitted and on what basis?”

 

Ramesh also questioned the government over Tesla’s manufacturing in India and asked whether there remains some commitment to it, given that Starlink has been facilitated into India.

 

Starlink deal

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance’s Jio Platforms and SpaceX struck a deal on Wednesday, which came as a surprise, given the feud between the two billionaires over internet service airwave allocation. In the last few months, competitors Jio and Airtel came together and advocated for a spectrum auction for satellite services in India, arguing that an administrative allocation could allow Musk to acquire airwaves at a lower cost than what they previously paid through auctions, according to a PTI report.