Yunus invites Elon Musk to launch Starling satellite internet service in Bangladesh

Bangladesh interim government’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has invited SpaceX Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Elon Musk to visit Dhaka and launch Starling satellite internet service in the country.

The office of the Bangladesh Chief Adviser, in a letter to Musk on February 19, said: “The Chief Adviser invites Elon Musk to visit Bangladesh and launch Starling satellite internet service in 90 working days.”

The letter added, “...the Chief Adviser told Musk that his visit to Bangladesh would allow him to meet Bangladeshi young men and women who would be among the main beneficiaries of this leading technology.”

The move comes after United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in January this year suspended its funding to the Nobel laureate Yunus-led government in wake of US President Donald Trump’s order to suspend foreign aid for 90 days.

USAID in a statement to its partners in Bangladesh asked them to immediately stop any work performed under its contract.

“This letter serves as a directive to all USAID/Bangladesh implementing partners to immediately stop, cease, and/or suspend any work performed under your respective USAID/Bangladesh contract, task order, grant, cooperative agreement, or other acquisition or assistance instrument,” the developmental agency said.

“Partners shall take all reasonable steps to minimize the incurrence of costs allocable to their awards. Partners shall not resume work under their awards until notification has been received in writing from the contracting/agreement officer that this award stop-work order/suspension has been cancelled,” it added.

Notably, Trump in his executive order claimed that foreign aid provided by the US was “not aligned” with America’s “interests and values.”

USAID’s decision to suspend financial assistance to Bangladesh could have dire consequences for the Yunus-led government.

According to USAID, its programme in Bangladesh is the largest in Asia, encompassing key global food security and health initiatives, along with critical democracy, governance, education, and environmental projects. It is also the largest donor to Bangladesh’s humanitarian assistance portfolio, which addresses the Rohingya refugee crisis.