Hard-nosed diplomats and thick-skinned politicians can see it for what it is. Public opinion is fickle and still deeply suspicious of the United States. With serial summits and the China threat, a thin crust of trust was just forming. It can crack as people see this as ‘old-style US perfidy.’
US spying has exposed geostrategic inequalities. It will test India’s trust in Quad
The Americans spied on a fellow Quad member and tipped off Canada, an old Five Eyes ally. It wakes India up to the harsh geostrategic inequalities for a non-treaty ‘ally.’ Trust within a still new Quad alliance will be frayed as New Delhi takes a deep breath and resets expectations.