Path of Exile 2, Arbiter of Ash.
Played over @Starlink in an airplane.
Starlink is so good that you can play real-time video games while airborne! pic.twitter.com/DEpRJYfU6y
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2024
Elon Musk announced that Starlink’s operations have become inactive in India following the seizure of a second device by Indian authorities. This development is a significant setback for the satellite internet service in one of the world’s largest markets. The conflict between Starlink and Indian regulators seems to be escalating, with this latest seizure further complicating the company’s efforts to expand its services to more regions.
Starlink is known for providing high-speed internet access to remote and underserved areas through a constellation of satellites.
In a first, Starlink devices were seized in Manipur’s Imphal East on December 13 during a search operation by a joint team of security forces including the police and the Army. @AroonDeep and I report https://t.co/CjaUzPjJBB
— Vijaita Singh (@vijaita) December 18, 2024
An official statement on the reasons behind the seizures has yet to be issued, but the move follows ongoing regulatory scrutiny of satellite internet services in the country. A Starlink dish and router recovered by security forces from insurgents in Manipur are non-functional and incompatible in the state bordering Myanmar, sources in the central intelligence agencies have said, based on their investigation.
Acting on specific intelligence, troops of #IndianArmy and #AssamRifles formations under #SpearCorps carried out joint search operations in the hill and valley regions in the districts of Churachandpur, Chandel, Imphal East and Kagpokpi in #Manipur, in close coordination with… pic.twitter.com/kxy7ec5YAE
— SpearCorps.IndianArmy (@Spearcorps) December 16, 2024
“The devices had definitive markings of Starlink, but when we got it examined, we came to know that it is not compatible in this region,” a senior officer stated, requesting anonymity. The army handed over the device to the Department of Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for forensic analysis. “Initial reports suggest that they were not operative.
The report is, however, being analysed further,” the officer added. The forensic reports are being tallied by both the state and the Centre.
"We will do our best to serve the people of India with Starlink." 🇮🇳
一 Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/hDIGEmEnik
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) December 17, 2024
Starlink, owned by billionaire Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX, is the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet anywhere in the world where the service is licensed to operate.
Starlink is not available in India, though the American company has applied for regulatory clearance. Elon Musk in a post on X has said Starlink doesn’t operate in India. The security forces recovered the Starlink dish and router during a combing operation in Imphal East district’s Keirao Khunou village.
Starlink device controversy in Manipur
They also recovered weapons, including an MA4 assault rifle used by the Myanmar Army, a pistol, and ammunition. “We are examining 20 meters of FTP cables which were recovered along with the satellite internet antenna and the router,” another officer said.
In 2021, the Centre ordered Starlink to stop pre-orders and services without proper licensing, and the service has remained inactive in the country since then. After visuals of the Starlink device surfaced on social media, Elon Musk clarified in a post on X, “Starlink satellite beams are turned off over India and were never on in the first place.” His response came after the Indian Army posted photos of recovered items, including guns, bombs, and a rectangular dish and router with the Starlink company name and logo. “We recover weapons and gadgetry every day.
Not all is sophisticated, but three-fourths of the recovered weapons and tech items are sophisticated,” another officer who is involved in field operations said. Some 5,800 weapons were snatched or stolen from police stations across Manipur last year, with only 1,900 recovered by the forces. Manipur has been grappling with ethnic violence since May 2023 between the valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of Manipur.
Over 250 people have died, and thousands have been internally displaced, as clashes over land, identity, and political representation escalate. The discovery of the Starlink device in violence-hit Manipur has heightened concerns about external influences and technological misuse exacerbating the conflict. The seized Starlink device has “RPF/PLA” scribbled on it.
The Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) is the political arm of the Meitei insurgent group People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which is one of the eight Meitei secessionist groups listed as banned organizations by the Union Home Ministry. Starlink has no license to operate in neighboring Myanmar. However, the Myanmar Internet Project—a collective run since 2022 by researchers to track developments in the Myanmar digital space—has estimated some 3,000 Starlink connections across the country, used by both ethnic insurgents fighting the junta and the common people living in remote areas.
The Meitei insurgent group PLA has been operating in areas in Myanmar near the border with India.
Cameron is a highly regarded contributor in the rapidly evolving fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. His articles delve into the theoretical underpinnings of AI, the practical applications of machine learning across industries, ethical considerations of autonomous systems, and the societal impacts of these disruptive technologies.
