Obviously, Star was/is desperate to get into the Indian market and thereby lower its standards to some extent.

But, in the end, they showed that they could only lower them so far. Yes, there are multiple poor airlines in Star Alliance, but AI would set a new bar -- i.e., be the worst.

Just like Marriott has some poor properties in its portfolio, but that doesn't mean that it would accept any hotel at all, and in fact jettisons some of the poorest ones on occasion.