The Communist Party of India (Marxist) in India has strongly opposed the Central Government’s decision to allow Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink to start operations in India.
In an official statement, the CPI (M) criticized the lack of transparency as to how the Starlink was allowed, warning a foreign company to manage a significant digital infrastructure, causing national security risks. The party said, “It opens a back door for American agencies in India’s telecommunications and strategic communication systems.”
CPI (M) also raised an alarm on the allocation of low meaning orbit (Leo) satellite slots, stating that these limited space resources could be removed once. The party argued that such a step compromises on India’s interests and digital sovereignty.
The party said, “If the government was really committed to self-sufficiency, it would have used ISRO and domestic agencies such as the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) and C-Dot indigenous satellite communication communication to build infrastructure,” the party said, seeing that it strengthens public sector capabilities and protected national interests.
The statement criticized Starlinks allegedly introduced financial terms, which includes only 4% spectrum use fee and any advance fee, which has claimed adequate loss to the party National Experter. It also questioned India’s Space Regulatory, in-space for the privacy around the approval surrounding the surrounding approval.
Highlighting the Starlink’s partnership with private veteran Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, the CPI (M) expressed concern that this could lead to telecommunications, which leads to public sector BSNL. “It sounds like another attempt to weaken BSNL, which provides cheap telecommunications services to people across the country,” the statement said.
Calling the decision in a long time, CPI (M) has demanded an immediate withdrawal of the government’s approval to Starlink.