Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Tesla-SpaceX chief Elon Musk on Thursday found common ground over the regulatory hurdles facing Starlink in India, with Gandhi telling the billionaire entrepreneur to “wait till you discover the other guy” after Musk questioned why his satellite internet company was still waiting for a licence to begin operations in the country.“Welcome to India, Elon. Wait till you discover the other guy,” Gandhi said on X, responding to Musk’s post questioning the delay in granting Starlink the final approvals required to operate commercially in India.Musk replied: “Thank you, Rahul. This is indeed troubling.”The exchange came a day after Musk alleged that Starlink’s entry into the Indian market was being blocked by unnamed “oligarchs” seeking to protect their existing business interests.“Unfortunately, we are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people,” he had said on Wednesday.Musk on Thursday again questioned the regulatory delay, saying Starlink was licensed in more than 165 countries and had spent five years complying with Indian laws and government requirements, yet was still awaiting the go-ahead to commence services.The company has already obtained a satellite communication permit and authorisation from India’s space regulator. However, it is yet to secure the security clearance needed before commercial operations can begin.The delay has also kept other satellite communication players, including Bharti Group-backed Eutelsat OneWeb and Jio Satellite, from launching commercial services despite having obtained the required satcom permit and space-sector authorisation.The companies are also awaiting spectrum allocation for commercial operations, with the Government yet to finalise the mechanism and pricing for assigning spectrum for satellite services.Meanwhile, Starlink has indicated that it is prepared to begin operations once the remaining approvals are in place.At the India Mobile Congress, SpaceX Vice-President for Starlink business operations Lauren Dreyer said the company had established 20 gateway sites and hundreds of antennas in India and had modified its systems to meet the country’s security and regulatory requirements.Dreyer said Starlink had also put controls in place across its operations and was keeping Indian user data within the country. She said the company had spent five years working with Indian regulators, telecom operators and other stakeholders in preparation for its proposed India launch.Starlink has also signed letters of intent with Maharashtra and Meghalaya to explore connectivity for remote communities and public institutions. In March 2025, it signed agreements with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio covering areas including network equipment distribution, business connectivity and rural connectivity.