WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump wants to reformat G7, the group of seven advanced economies in the world, to make it a G10 or G11 that would include India, Australia, South Korea, and Russia.
Calling the existing formation “outdated,” Trump revealed the idea of an expanded group after announcing that he was scrubbing the G7 he had planned to host at Camp David in June.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel bailed out of the meeting earlier this week after Trump revised his decision on a virtual summit because of the coronavirus and decided he would host it in person. Other G7 countries – United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan – too appeared lukewarm about the summit given the pandemic situation worldwide.
The US President seized the opportunity to suggest a rejig of an organization that began as a G-4 in 1973 and has expanded since, while indicating the new group could meet in September, possibly on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that meets around that time. “I’m postponi