WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI -- Since the Quad held its first leaders' summit in March 2021, the grouping of the U.S., Japan, India and Australia has had no major public hiccups. Until now.
The revelation that U.S. authorities thwarted an alleged conspiracy to assassinate a Sikh separatist on American soil -- and that the Indian government could have been involved in the plot -- has instantly underscored a fundamental question regarding the grouping: Is it a set of like-minded democracies who share common values, or is it a quartet bound by strategic interests, namely common skepticism toward China?
