Trump postpones G7; wants India, Russia in the group

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Washington: Calling the G7 a “very outdated group”, President Donald Trump has decided to put off the G7 summit till September.

He also intends to invite India, Russia, Australia and South Korea in the grouping of the largest advanced economies to discuss a plan on how to deal with the future of China.

The G7 comprises the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan.

“He is postponing it until September and plans to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India,” a White House statement said.

President Trump took the decision saying: “I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world. It’s a very outdated group of countries.”

It is not clear when the rescheduled summit will take place although Trump suggested that it could be held before or after the US Presidential elections in November this year.

“Maybe I will do it after the election,” he said. “Think a good time would be before the election… So, it might be a G10, G11, and it could be after the election is over,” he said, keeping the scheduling issue flexible and open-ended.

The decision to postpone the G7 meeting and include four other nations comes at a time when the US and China are locking horns over a range of issues — from Hong Kong’s autonomy to Taiwan, the origins of Covid-19 to the South China Sea tensions and trade issues.

Image courtesy of IANS

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