Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has urged the union government not to give permission to Elon Musk's Starlink to roll out its commercial satellite broadband services in India, citing national security concerns.
This comes after Elon Musk alleged that Starlink was being “blocked by certain oligarchs” in India, an assertion the government rejected. In its response, the Centre had said that India's regulatory framework for satellite communication services was “fair and non-discriminatory”.
Claiming that India is “grappling with various law-and-order challenges”, the SJM said in the current situation “,internet-based social media often fuels rumours and anti-national narratives.”
“Disrupting internet services frequently becomes essential to maintain law and order during instances of separatism, terrorism, riots, protests, and similar events,” SJM’s national co-Convenor Ashwani Mahajan said in a strongly worded statement.
The SJM is the economic offshoot of the RSS, the ideological fount of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
What the RSS body said
The SJM lent support to India’s concern that Indian internet traffic could bypass domestic gateways and travel through foreign infrastructure, making lawful monitoring and enforcement more difficult.
“Government wants Indian traffic routed through gateways within India,” Mahajan said.
Mahajan condemned Elon Musk’s statement about pending permission to Starlink to operate commercial satellite broadband services in India.
“Elon Musk has chosen to make allegations on Indian businesses and the government indirectly. It appears that Starlink is perhaps not prepared to meet those specific requirements. Consequently, it seems Elon Musk is either attempting to secure the license by creating public pressure against the government or is making these statements out of frustration,” Mahajan said.
Mahajan said Starlink's technology poses a serious challenge to meeting India's regulatory requirements and utilises laser-based satellite links to transmit data directly between satellites before it reaches a ground station.
“The Indian government is examining this system to ensure that data cannot bypass Indian gateways during security-related emergencies. A key regulatory condition is that Starlink must be able to precisely restrict its services at the government's behest; however, Starlink has not committed to meet this requirement, or its technology may not permit it,” he said.
The government had recently imposed an internet ban during the ongoing protest against the election commission. The SJM said such interventions are necessary to check misuse of technology as satellite internet could be used by “hostile actors, smugglers or insurgent groups to communicate beyond conventional telecom networks.”
“Apprehensions of Swadeshi Jagran Manch are about the security risks, attached with Starlink are based on experiences of Ukraine, Iran, Russia, China, Taiwan, South Africa, Brazil, Venezuela, Sudan and many others. Most prominent case studies for a national security analysis are Ukraine, Iran, Russia, China and Taiwan,” Mahajan said.
The body said that Starlink's failure to obtain a license does not mean India will be unable to provide satellite-based internet services.
“In fact, even if there is a slight delay in launching indigenous satellite-based internet services, we would still be able to offer services far cheaper than Starlink while ensuring national security,” Mahajan said.
Mahajan went on to add, “Banning Starlink will also serve the purpose of sending a message to trade partners like the US: that if they have the audacity to arbitrarily restrict Indian imports—such as handicraft products—by imposing high tariffs in the name of national security, then India is certainly within its rights to block Starlink based on its genuine national security concerns.”