India’s Internet Runs Through Two War Zones
Undersea fibre-optic cables carry India’s internet traffic to the rest of the world. Iran has threatened the cables under the Strait of Hormuz, but India’s larger exposure is the Red Sea: half the cables that land in India, and every one that reaches Europe, pass through it. Six of them have been cut there since February 2024. Use Simulate A Cut on the map to see what is left when a strait goes dark.
- Each coloured line is an undersea cable that lands in India: red passes Hormuz, orange passes the Red Sea, green avoids both.
- Numbered markers 1 to 10 match the table below the map, which names every westward cable, its owners and where it runs.
- White crosses mark where cables were cut in 2024 and 2025; locations are approximate.
- Routes are drawn as published by TeleGeography and are approximate. Legs south of the Horn of Africa are faded because they do not carry India’s traffic to Europe or the Gulf.
- Use Simulate A Cut to switch off the Red Sea or Hormuz and count the cables left.
Each line on the map is a fibre-optic cable on the seabed, owned by a group of telecom companies. These are the ten that leave India westward; the numbers match the numbered markers on the map. Routes and owners as listed by TeleGeography.
| # | Cable | Route From India | Owners | Straits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SeaMeWe-42005 | Mumbai, Chennai → Egypt, Italy, France | Indian owner: Bharti Airtel, Tata Communications | Red Sea |
| 2 | IMEWE2010 | Mumbai → Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Italy, France | Indian owner: Bharti Airtel, Tata Communications | Red Sea |
| 3 | EIG2011 | Mumbai → Oman, Egypt, Portugal, UK | Indian owner: Bharti Airtel, Bharat Sanchar Nigam | Red Sea |
| 4 | SEACOM / TGN-Eurasia2009 | Mumbai → Egypt, and down East Africa | Indian owner: Tata Communications | Red Sea |
| 5 | FEA1997 | Mumbai → UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt | Owners: FLAG | Red Sea |
| 6 | AAE-12017 | Mumbai → Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Europe; east to Asia | Indian owner: Reliance Jio | HormuzRed Sea |
| 7 | 2Africa2024 | Mumbai → the Gulf states, Egypt, Europe, around Africa | Owners: Bayobab, China Mobile, Meta | HormuzRed Sea |
| 8 | FALCON2006 | Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram → every Gulf state, Iran, Iraq, Egypt | Owners: FLAG | HormuzRed Sea |
| 9 | Gulf Bridge (GBI/MENA)2012 | Mumbai → the Gulf states, Iran, Iraq | Owners: Gulf Bridge International | Hormuz |
| 10 | Bay Of Bengal Gateway2016 | Mumbai, Chennai → Oman, UAE (outside the strait), Sri Lanka, Malaysia | Indian owner: Reliance Jio | Neither |
Sources And MethodShow
Cables and landing points: TeleGeography Submarine Cable Map (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0), fetched 26 October 2026; landings cross-checked against operator announcements (Airtel for 2Africa in Mumbai, NTT for MIST, Reliance Jio for IAX). IRGC threat of 19 October 2026 and the six live Hormuz cables: Windward. Red Sea cuts: Bloomberg via gCaptain (February 2024: AAE-1, SEACOM, EIG; repairs) and SiliconANGLE / Microsoft and All India Radio (September 2025: SeaMeWe-4, IMEWE, FALCON). Iran's reported plan to block repairs: Reuters via Ynet, October 2026. Software exports: RBI, Survey on Computer Software and ITES Exports 2024-25. Indians in the Gulf: MEA, Population of Overseas Indians, January 2026. Landing-station share: TRAI chairman as reported. Traffic shares (about 60% west, 40% east) are industry estimates reported in the press, not official figures. Boundary: Survey of India via DataMeet.