NEW DELHI:
Elon Musk's blow-hot-and-cold stand for getting Starlink access to India has now entered a conciliatory phase after the tech trillionaire was all fire on X last week. The change in tone comes at a time when US secretary of state Marco Rubio is in India and will visit the world's largest oil refinery in Jamnagar that's owned by
Reliance Industries chairman
Mukesh Ambani - who was targeted by Musk last week.
"Much appreciated," Musk said on X late Friday night in response to Reliance Industries' first reply to his charges on Friday, in which Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate had said: "We welcome competition in satellite communications, including Starlink. Every player, Jio included, must... abide by the laws and policies of the land.... As govt of India has stated, it applies the same process to every applicant, Indian or foreign. Jio's own satellite services await clearances."
Starlink also responded to Reliance's post, saying it has "worked closely with regulators, industry and operators in India for five plus years, and built a network of dedicated systems, gateways, and other infrastructure all in-country to exclusively serve Indian traffic safely and securely and all with the requisite government approvals. Starlink is ready to connect India with high-speed internet."
Sunil Bharti-backed Eutelsat OneWeb, Ambani's Reliance Jio and Musk's Starlink have got licences and are preparing to start satcom service so that remote areas where laying ground infra for broadband is not possible can get the same. Starlink clearance is being seen as part of the larger Indo-US ties with several factors being part of the play, including the trade deal and threat of tariffs over buying Russian oil.