On October 9, Elon Musk sat at the controls of the world’s largest megaphone and typed a sarcastic open letter to an Indian citizen: “Dear Prime Minister Ambani, please accept my humble apologies for not realising that you are the real boss of India.” It was a joke. It was also something a lot of Indians felt in the gut before they could explain — the casual assumption that India is a market to be pried open, and that an Indian who follows his country’s rules must be a crony worth mocking.
Let me say the quiet part plainly, because CXO Magazine readers run businesses in this country and deserve a straight take. This is not a billionaire spat. It is a foreign chief executive, frustrated that he has not yet cleared India’s regulatory process, publicly ridiculing a private Indian citizen and, by extension, India’s sovereign right to decide who operates on its soil and on what terms. You can admire Musk’s companies — I do — and still find that beneath the dignity of a man who wants a licence from the Republic of India.
The facts are not in dispute. Starlink has been waiting on the final clearances to operate in India. It received its GMPCS licence in June 2025 and IN-SPACe authorisation the following month; security clearance and spectrum allocation are still pending. Frustrated by the wait, Musk said “certain oligarchs” were blocking entry, then asked on X whether Mukesh Ambani — chairman of Reliance, which owns Jio — is “the real boss of India.” He followed with the mock “Dear Prime Minister Ambani” letter, accusing Reliance of wanting “monopolistic exploitation” of Indians.
Here is the part that got less airtime abroad. The same day, India’s Ministry of Communications stated through the Press Information Bureau that the country’s satellite framework is fair and non-discriminatory, that security assessments are underway for all three licensed satellite operators at broadly the same stage, and that spectrum can only be sought after that review. Musk offered no evidence that Reliance had lobbied against Starlink. Ambani and Jio said nothing. One man shouted; the sovereign answered calmly; the accused stayed silent. Decide for yourself which of those is the conduct of strength.
Run the thought experiment, because it is the fastest way to see the double standard. Imagine Mukesh Ambani, blocked on a licence in the United States, posting a sarcastic open letter on X: “Dear President Musk, my apologies for not realising you are the real boss of America — please let Jio compete before your friends finish their monopolistic exploitation of the American consumer.”
Be honest about what would follow. It would not be treated as a cheeky bit of pressure. It would be framed as a foreign tycoon insulting the office of the President, interfering in a sovereign regulatory process, and disrespecting the United States. The cable panels would run for a week. There would be calls to review every Reliance interest on American soil, mutterings about national security, and a line of politicians competing to look toughest on the outsider. The licence would not come faster. It would freeze.
That asymmetry is the whole point. When a Western billionaire mocks an Indian, it is reported as plucky disruption. When an Indian would dare the reverse, it would be reported as an affront to a nation. India should extend itself exactly the respect it is expected to extend others — no less. A country of 1.4 billion people, the world’s fourth-largest economy, does not owe anyone an apology for making applicants wait their turn.
Strip away the theatrics and what Musk calls a monopoly is, in fact, a country running its own clock. Every satellite operator — Starlink included — goes through the same security review before spectrum. That is not India being difficult. That is India being a state. A nation that puts foreign communications infrastructure over its territory without a security clearance is not “open for business”; it is careless with its own citizens.
And India has earned the right to back itself on telecom. This is the market that gave the world its cheapest mobile data, that put a smartphone and a data plan in the hands of hundreds of millions who had never been online, that built UPI and a digital public stack the West now studies. Whatever one thinks of Reliance, Jio did not make data expensive in India — it made it almost free. The country that pulled off that is entitled to decide the terms on which the next entrant joins, and to take the weeks it needs to do it. Impatience from the applicant is not evidence of a conspiracy by the host.
Let me give the other side its due, because defending India does not mean defending every Indian incumbent. Market concentration is a real question. Reliance is enormous, and in any economy a dominant player with political weight deserves scrutiny, not a free pass. If regulators ever did tilt the field — in telecom or anywhere — that would be worth exposing, and Indian journalists and courts, not a foreign CEO’s X account, are the right venue. Competition is good for India; Starlink serving remote villages, disaster zones and underserved borders could genuinely save lives, as Musk himself argued. India should want it here.
But — and this is the line — India should want it here on India’s terms, through India’s process, with respect for India’s institutions. “Let me compete” is a fair ask. “Your country is run by a crony and you are fools to be exploited” is not an argument; it is contempt wearing the costume of an argument. You can hold both thoughts at once: welcome the competition, and refuse the condescension.
Here is my message to every founder, CEO and NRI reading this. Compete in India, invest in India, build in India — we will welcome you. But do not mistake our hospitality for submission, and do not confuse our patience for weakness. The next Elon Musk who wants a licence here should remember a simple thing: you do not win over a civilisation of 1.4 billion people by mocking one of them.
Dear Mr. Musk — India is not a boss you flatter or a crony you expose. India is a country. Treat it like one, and you will find no better partner. Treat it like a punchline, and you will wait.