{"id":114438,"date":"2026-10-13T17:07:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T17:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/influential-hindu-group-urges-india-to-block-starlink-amid-musk-ambani-feud-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T17:07:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T17:07:34","slug":"influential-hindu-group-urges-india-to-block-starlink-amid-musk-ambani-feud-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/influential-hindu-group-urges-india-to-block-starlink-amid-musk-ambani-feud-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Influential Hindu group urges India to block Starlink amid Musk-Ambani feud | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

The call for \u200bStarlink’s ban came from Swadeshi Jagran Manch, the economic wing of the RSS<\/p>\n

The Starlink logo is seen in front of the Indian flag in this illustration taken, June 21, 2023. Photo: REUTERS <\/p>\n

\n

An influential Hindu nationalist group close to India’s ruling party urged the government on Tuesday to block Elon Musk’s Starlink from launching satellite \u200binternet services in the country, citing national security concerns.<\/p>\n

Starlink’s four-year wait \u200cto launch in India has come under renewed scrutiny after Musk last week accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and billionaire Mukesh Ambani of stalling its entry to favour Ambani’s Reliance Jio.<\/p>\n

India’s communications ministry \u200bsaid last week that security assessments<\/a> were under way for Starlink and \u200brival satellite ventures backed by Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. It \u2060described suggestions that the approval process was unfair or discriminatory as “baseless and misconceived”.<\/p>\n

Read: <\/strong>Satellite internet plan in final stage<\/a><\/p>\n

The call for \u200bStarlink’s ban came from Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak \u200bSangh (RSS), the Hindu nationalist organisation that is the ideological parent of Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.<\/p>\n

SJM also linked its demand to trade tensions with the US. If Washington imposes high tariffs on \u200bIndian imports<\/a> “in the name of national security, then India is certainly within its \u200brights to block Starlink based on its genuine national security concerns”, national co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said \u200cin a \u2060statement.<\/p>\n

Mahajan added that Starlink’s technology could make it difficult for authorities to restrict internet services during security emergencies and ensure Indian internet traffic passes through domestic infrastructure.<\/p>\n

SJM has influenced Indian policy in recent years, notably pushing for rules to protect small traders \u200bfrom US-owned e-commerce firms \u200bAmazon and Walmart’s \u2060Flipkart.<\/p>\n

SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Market with more than a billion internet users<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starlink is \u200bseeking to launch in a country with more than a \u200bbillion internet \u2060subscribers. Alongside Starlink, satellite ventures backed by Reliance Jio and Bharti are awaiting final clearances to begin services.<\/p>\n

Musk has repeatedly taunted Ambani on X, questioning why Starlink still lacked \u2060a licence \u200bdespite what he said were years of compliance \u200bwith Indian requirements.<\/p>\n

“Is Ambani the real boss of India?” he posted last week, as he accused the rival \u200bbillionaire of stalling Starlink’s entry.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Dear Prime Minister Ambani,<\/p>\n

Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India.<\/p>\n

Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The call for \u200bStarlink’s ban came from Swadeshi Jagran Manch, the economic wing of the RSS The Starlink logo is seen in front of the Indian flag in this illustration taken, June 21, 2023. Photo: REUTERS An influential Hindu nationalist group close to India’s ruling party urged the government on Tuesday to block Elon Musk’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/starlink-india-feud1791899197-0\/starlink-india-feud1791899197-0-640x480.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t