SOVEREIGNTY CONCERNS AFTER MUSK'S STARLINK ACTS IN IRAN

The concern is not that people might access the internet during a shutdown, but that a lawful executive order of Government of India could, in practice, be nullified by a foreign commercial satellite network.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA NEW DELHI

The circumvention of internet shutdowns in Iran by protestors who used the US-based and operated Starlink internet system has raised questions in India on a similar situation developing and eroding sovereign authority, especially in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.

While Starlink is a private entity, in commercial terms, United States government agencies are among Starlink's largest and most consequential revenue sources.

The Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, and allied militaries rely on Starlink for battlefield communications, resilient connectivity in denied or degraded environments, and rapid-deployment satellite internet in areas where terrestrial networks are unavailable or compromised.

These relationships extend beyond ad hoc usage into multiyear, high-value contracts, including classified and semiclassified programmes such as Starshield. Operationally, Starlink has become embedded in US and allied military communications doctrine, particularly following its extensive use in the Ukraine conflict.

While the government in Tehran imposed a blanket internet ban in wake of the protests, the protestors and their alleged handlers, as claimed by Iranian officials, used smuggled Starlink setups to easily access the internet during state-imposed internet blackouts.