Withhold nod to Elon Musk's Starlink, says Raghav Chadha in retaliation to US tariffs

New Delhi, April 3 (IANS) As the US imposed reciprocal tariffs of 26 per cent on Indian exports, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Thursday suggested a strong retaliatory response from the Indian government, including withholding of the necessary approvals for Elon Musk’s Starlink to use them as a bargaining chip to re-negotiate the “Trump Tariffs”.

Raising a question in the House before Union Minister for Communications, Chadha accused the US of breaking India’s trust and disrespecting its friendship by slapping the tariffs.

“We offered unflinching loyalty, but in return, the Trump Administration has imposed the Trump Tariff that could wreck the Indian economy,” he said, narrating a couplet in Hindi on disloyalty in friendship.

He also pointed to tax sops offered to the US companies like Google and Meta by the Indian government to highlight its friendly stance towards the US, but said in return, ‘our country was slapped with a 26 per cent reciprocal tariff’.

The MP from Punjab said: “Shouldn’t the Indian government withhold the necessary approvals for Elon Musk’s Starlink to use it as a bargaining chip in order to re-negotiate the Trump Tariffs?”

He targeted Starlink further by seeking the government’s stance on the company’s reluctance to share data.

“Given the fact that Starlink refused to share critical data with Indian authorities, citing data privacy laws, how does the government of India plan to deal with such resistance from Elon Musk’s Starlink on data sharing and the potential misuse of Starlink?” he asked.

Indirectly referring to the US corporates, allegedly browbeating governments across the globe, Chadha highlighted how Musk allegedly threatened the Ukrainians by withdrawing his company’s services and bringing that country’s frontline on its knees.

He also pointed to an alleged misuse of Starlink navigation satellite by a Myanmar-based drug syndicate whose operations were revealed in a bust in Andamans and Nicobar Islands, adding that Starlink refused to share details on the equipment on the grounds of privacy.

The AAP RS MP asked the government how it planned to counter the alleged misuse of satellite internet spectrum, particularly by Starlink.

--IANS

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