BA sponsoring any Indian carrier to join OW would have been a surprise a few years back, but now it's a different story between no longer having the choice to settle for the least competitive amongst the big 3 Indian airlines but having to bring in an Indian carrier anyway. [IT may not have the same long-term financial viability as AI since IT is not capable of drinking from government taps like AI, but is IT financially weaker than 9W?]

Given my lifetime AA elite status and its OW equivalent, I hope to see AA and IT in OW for a long, long time. I am glad to see this green-lighted.