The partnerships announced by Bharti Airtel and Jio with billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink to provide satellite internet services in India were orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to buy goodwill” with United States President Trump, the Congress alleged on Thursday.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on social media that Airtel and Jio had announced the agreements “seemingly overcoming all their objections to [Starlink’s] entry into India – which they have been voicing for quite some time”.

Starlink is a constellation of satellites developed by Musk’s spacecraft manufacturing company SpaceX. The company provides internet services in several countries, but not yet in India.

“It is abundantly clear that these partnerships have been orchestrated by none other than the PM himself to buy goodwill with President Trump through Starlink’s owner Mr Elon Musk,” Ramesh said.

The billionaire businessman is also a senior advisor to Trump. Modi had met Musk in February during a visit to Washington for talks with Trump.

Trump has threatened to impose reciprocal tariffs against India, among other countries, from April 2, citing high taxes levied by New Delhi on foreign goods.

The agreements signed by telecom companies Airtel and Reliance Industries-owned Jio Platforms will allow Starlink to provide its satellite internet services in India, subject to Musk’s company getting authorisation to sell its product. Starlink’s application for a licence to start satellite communication services in India is pending before the Union government.

Ramesh also cited concerns pertaining to national security.

“Who will have the power to switch connectivity on or off when national security demands it?” he asked. “Will it be Starlink or its Indian partners? Will other satellite-based connectivity providers also be permitted and on what basis?

He added: “And, of course, the much larger question of Tesla manufacturing in India remains. Is there some commitment to it now that Starlink’s entry into India has been facilitated?”

Musk, who is also the chief executive officer of automobile manufacturer Tesla, has long questioned India’s policy of having import tariffs of around 100% on electric vehicles, which is aimed at protecting local automobile manufacturers.

In March 2024, the Indian government introduced an electric vehicle policy that reduces import taxes to 15% if a carmaker invests at least Rs 4,150 crore. The manufacturer will also have to achieve 50% domestic value addition within five years.

Row over IT minister’s deleted Starlink tweet

On Thursday, Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale said that the “truth” was “finally out”, citing a deleted social media post by Union Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

In a tweet on Wednesday night, Vaishnaw said “Starlink, welcome to India”, showed a screenshot of the minister’s deleted post shared by Gokhale.

“Elon Musk’s Starlink has not yet gotten govt approval,” Gokhale said. “It also has not been allotted any satellite spectrum.”

He added: “But the tweet by @AshwiniVaishnaw CLEARLY shows that spineless PM Modi is going to bend over backwards for Trump & Elon Musk. The ‘govt approval’ is clearly guaranteed.”

The Trinamool Congress MP asked: “How much is the BJP getting from Elon Musk? What is Modi getting in return for meekly selling out our country to the US establishment? Help with elections?”

Congress Spokesperson Shama Mohamed also asked why Vaishnaw had deleted his post welcoming Starlink.

“BJP falsely accused UPA of corruption when there was none, but now they have bypassed auctions and distributed spectrum administratively,” she alleged. “They are bending over for Elon Musk and Trump, risking national security and creating a monopoly in India.”

In October, Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had said that satellite communications spectrum will be allocated administratively and not through an auction. However, he clarified that the spectrum will not be free.

Musk had criticised the auction route, contrary to the demands of other industry players.