Trump's G-11 proposal faces Europe hurdle

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump's proposal to expand the G-7 to G-10/11 - aimed at creating a counter-weight to China- appears to have faced resistance from the European Union, even as India has approached the invite purely as an initiative of the current G-7 Presidency.

Trump has invited India, Russia, South Korea and Australia for the 2020 edition of the Summit.

India is, however, not approaching Trump's invite to attend the summit from any anti-China agenda but as an invite from hosts for this edition of the summit on the lines of France's invite to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 as the then G-7 chair, ET has learnt.


There are no plans as on date to hold dialogue with European members of G-7 or EU on Trump's invite, as Delhi considers the invite as a prerogative of America, the current G-7 presidency, according to informed sources.

India and the EU are hoping to organise the next edition of their summit virtually in the near future and it is not clear if the EU wants to raise the issue of expansion of G-7.

On Sunday, the European Union's foreign policy chief ruled out a transatlantic alliance against China and dismissed "systematic rivalry" with Beijing.

EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell called for a "big, positive agenda for EU-China cooperation", just a day before he and the 27 foreign ministers of the bloc are expected to have a videoconference with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The first EU-China summit under European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel will be organised soon.

The two EU chiefs will meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, with the discussions expected to focus on market access, according to media reports.

In a post on his official site on Sunday, Borrell said the EU would not pick a side in the US-China conflict, adding that the European style of diplomacy focused on multilateralism and cooperation.

"Amid US-China tensions as the main axis of global politics, the pressure to 'choose sides' is increasing," he said. "We as Europeans have to do it 'My Way', with all the challenges this brings."