The United States is reportedly planning a new superclub of five countries, including India in it. There is no official confirmation on this, however Defense
One reported that the Trump administration is exploring the idea of 'C5' or 'Core Five' - a new elite group comprising America, Russia, China, India and Japan. This new group, if formalised, will exclude the existing Europe-dominated G7 and other traditional democracy and wealth based groupings. American outlet Politico reported that the concept for the new hard-power grouping originated in a longer, unpublished version of the National Security Strategy released by the White House last week. While Politico could not independently verify the existence of this extended document, it was previously reported by Defense One. "The strategy proposes a 'Core Five,' or C5, consisting of the United States, China, Russia, India, and Japan – several countries with populations over 100 million. It would meet regularly, like the G7, at summits on specific topics. The first on the proposed C5 agenda: security in the Middle East, specifically the normalisation of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia," the report said. According to Politico, the White House has denied the existence of such a document, with press secretary Hannah Kelly insisting that “no alternative, private, or secret version” of the 33-page official plan exists. Still, national security experts say the idea carries a distinctly “Trumpian” tone, and argue that creating the C5 would align with the current White House’s approach. "This is consistent with how we believe President Trump views the world, which is non-ideological, through a sympathy for strong players, and through a tendency to cooperate with other great powers that maintain spheres of influence in their region," Torrey Taussig, who served as director for European affairs on the US National Security Council during the Biden administration, told the publication. She pointed out that Europe is notably absent from the proposed C5, something that would likely lead Europeans to believe the administration sees Russia as a major power with its own sphere of influence in Europe. Michael Sobolik, who served as an aide to Republican Senator Ted Cruz during Trump’s first term, added that creating the C5 would mark a shift from Trump’s earlier China strategy. "The first Trump administration adhered to the concept of great power competition, and that's how we framed and discussed relations with China... This is just a huge departure from that," he said.
