BJP’s Chandrasekhar Defends India’s Starlink Approval Process, Urges Musk to Wait

BJP Keralam president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday urged Elon Musk to be patient over the delay in granting operational clearance to Starlink in India, saying satellite communication services must meet the country’s security and regulatory requirements.

Responding to the billionaire’s social media posts questioning why Starlink had not received a licence to operate in India, Chandrasekhar said all three satellite communication service providers Starlink, Reliance Jio’s Jio Satcom and Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb were at broadly the same stage of securing clearances.

The former Union minister of state for information technology said satellite internet protocol services carried significant security implications, particularly for a country that had faced terrorism and insurgency supported by hostile actors in neighbouring countries.

Referring to attacks, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes and the Pahalgam incident, Chandrasekhar said satellite communication had been used by terrorists. He added that satellite-based voice-over-internet protocol services and encryption posed additional security challenges.

“These challenges are not insurmountable, but new capabilities and capacity have to be built to ensure safety and trust,” he said in a post on X. Describing Starlink as an impressive technology representing a new era in mobility innovation, Chandrasekhar maintained that India must prioritise its national interests while embracing new technologies.

“Patience is unavoidable and in this case is a necessity,” he told Musk. He said the three principles guiding technology, telecommunications and internet services under Prime Minister Narendra Modi were openness, safety and accountability.

According to Chandrasekhar, openness meant preventing monopolies and ensuring fair competition, while safety required secure and trusted infrastructure, networks and platforms. Accountability meant that every participant must be legally responsible for safety and trust.

On Thursday, the Union Telecom Ministry rejected Musk’s allegation that domestic business interests were preventing Starlink from operating in India. The ministry said all satellite communication companies were subject to the same regulatory and security requirements.