Elon Musk confirmed that Starlink satellite internet services are currently inactive in India, marking his first public remarks since authorities confiscated two devices linked to the company in the past few weeks—one in a conflict zone and the other during a drug smuggling investigation.
Starlink is in the process of seeking regulatory approval to offer satellite broadband services in India, navigating potential security concerns as part of this effort.
In a post on X late Tuesday, Musk stated, “Starlink satellite beams are turned off over India” and added that they “were never on in the first place.”
This message came in response to a tweet from the Indian Army detailing a search operation conducted on December 13 in Manipur state, a region that has experienced ongoing communal violence since early last year.
The Army’s post featured images of seized weaponry, along with a satellite dish and receiver prominently displaying the Starlink logo.
Two military officers, who requested anonymity, revealed that the device bearing the Starlink logo was allegedly being utilized by a militant organization. They suggested that the equipment had likely been smuggled across the porous border with Myanmar, a country plagued by civil unrest, where the use of Starlink devices has been previously reported, despite the company not operating in that region.
In a related matter, Indian police recently issued a legal request to Starlink for purchase information regarding a device recovered from smugglers apprehended at sea with a massive shipment of methamphetamine valued at approximately $4.2 billion (around Rs. 20,386 crore)—one of the largest drug busts in Indian history. The authorities suspect the smugglers may have utilized the internet device for navigation during their operations.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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