Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Sunday hit back at SpaceX CEO Elon Musk over Starlink’s proposed entry into India’s satellite communications market, asking him to first provide affordable internet connections to poor people in the United States. Dubey also raised concerns over the security implications of the satellite internet service, asserting that India would not change its security policy under pressure.
In a post on X, Dubey said a Parliamentary Committee had examined the challenges that Starlink could pose to India’s security agencies. He added that the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs and investigative agencies had raised concerns over the potential threats.
“As the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee, our committee has understood the challenges facing the country’s security agencies through @elonmusk’s Starlink. The Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and our investigation agencies are being affected by the dangerous games of these threats,” Dubey wrote.
Referring to the previous UPA government, the BJP MP said the concerns surrounding such threats were not new and had been flagged more than a decade ago.
“In 2013-14, the government of ji had informed @TRAI about these threats,” he said.
Dubey maintained that national security would take precedence over commercial considerations, noting that India would not compromise its policies to facilitate the entry of a foreign company.
“First, provide connections to the poor in your own country, America, at affordable rates, and then level accusations; India is a healthy democratic, sovereign nation; it does not change its security policy under pressure or social media,” he added.
He further stated that if commercial interests were the deciding factor, the government could have welcomed Starlink despite objections from security agencies.
“If our policy were driven by money, we would have rolled out the red-carpet welcome for you despite opposition from the security agencies. Don’t you provide even more support to political parties from America to Britain?” he further added.
Dubey’s remarks came amid an ongoing debate over proposed commercial launch in India, with Musk arguing that the company’s entry would increase competition and give consumers more choices in the broadband market.
On Saturday (local time), criticised arguments against Starlink’s entry, alleging that India’s broadband business was dominated by a monopoly and that some online users were defending existing market players.
“The ridiculous arguments by Ambani’s army of In ternet shills make no sense. On the one hand, they say Starlink couldn’t possibly compete with the amazing low prices offered by Ambani’s de facto monopoly in India and then, in the same breath, they essentially claim that Starlink would be too strong of a competitor! This is absurd hypocrisy and hyperbole,” Musk wrote on X.
He acknowledged that the arrival of another service provider could affect the profits of existing companies but argued that this would not necessarily undermine their businesses.
“Obviously, if Starlink is too expensive in India, no one will buy it, so SpaceX will need to make pricing affordable,” he added.
The latest remarks followed an earlier post in which Musk sarcastically targeted arguments against Starlink’s proposed entry while seeking permission to operate in India.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications has rejected suggestions that India’s regulatory framework for satellite communication services favours certain companies over others.
“The Government has put in place a fair and non-discriminatory authorisation framework for all telecommunication services, including satellite communication services. Under this, telecom licences have been granted to three Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite services based on non-geosynchronous satellite orbit-based satellite communications, as part of its commitment to enable provision of satellite communication services in India,” the ministry said in a statement issued on October 8.
It clarified that security assessments of all three licensees were currently under way.
“As and when this process is completed for a licensed entity, it may proceed to the next step of seeking assignment of spectrum. At present, all three entities are at broadly the same regulatory stage. As such, the suggestion that the framework or its application is unfair or discriminatory is baseless and misconceived,” the ministry added.
