The leaked NSS draft proposes creation of C-5 that would not be based on economic or democratic criteria like the G-7 or G-20 but would be a forum for the world’s five most populous and powerful countries
IT was a loss and a victory both for Indian diplomacy last week; victory was to be include in the latest proposal by US President Donald Trump to form a new regional grouping called C-5. The suffered Indian loss was to be denied a seat at the Pax Silica, the US-led strategic initiative aimed at building a secure, prosperous and innovation-driven silicon supply chain across trusted partners.
President Trump looks to present the new global alliance, the ‘C5’, or ‘Core Five’, as a forum for major powers. It would include the US, Russia, China, India and Japan and seeks to sideline the current European-dominated G-7 and other traditional democratic and wealth-based organisations.
The move followed the release of the US’s new National Security Strategy (NSS), which has caused a stir around the world, due to controversial issues such as America’s policy to counter China and its withdrawal from the defence of Europe. However, many aspects of the document have not been made public, or if made public, have been discussed very little.
The document includes several major changes planned by the Trump administration. It mentions the C-5, which has attracted the attention of defence experts around the globe. While the public document calls for the US to withdraw from European security, other undisclosed elements include a plan to “Make Europe Great Again.”
The detailed document appears to emphasise America’s ideological dominance over Europe’s future. The draft says that Europe is facing a “crisis of civilisation” due to “immigration policy and censorship of free speech.” Therefore, it suggests that Washington should build closer ties with countries like Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland.
What is the C-5?
The leaked NSS draft also includes an interesting proposal for a balance of power among global powers. It calls for the creation of C-5 that would not be based on economic or democratic criteria like the G-7 or G-20 but would be a forum for the world’s five most populous and powerful countries: the US, China, Russia, India, and Japan.
According to the Trump administration’s plan, the C-5 will also hold regular summits and seek to resolve major geopolitical and political issues. The proposed agenda for its first meeting is also included in the document, which calls for normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
It should be noted that President Trump had opposed the expulsion of Russia from the G-8. Russia was expelled from the G-8 after its invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014. Moreover, another interesting thing is that the Trump administration believes that it is impossible to maintain American dominance over other countries.
The document clearly states that “maintaining American dominance is neither possible nor wise.” The document states that “since the end of the Cold War, American policymakers recognised that sustained American dominance in the world is essential to the national interest.” However, the document states that the United States should intervene in the internal affairs of another country only when that country poses a direct threat to American national security.
The American publication Politico reported that the idea for the new hard power group emerged as part of a long, unpublished vision of the national security strategy that the White House published last week. According to Politico, the White House has denied the existence of the document, with Press Secretary Hannah Kelly insisting that there is “no alternative, private or secret version” of the 33-page official plan.
Pax Silica Initiative
Meanwhile, Pax Silica, the US State Department’s new flagship initiative on AI and supply-chain security, seeks to unite the world’s most technologically advanced economies behind a shared goal: building a secure, innovation-driven silicon and semiconductor ecosystem capable of supporting the next generation of artificial intelligence.
Announced at the inaugural summit on December 12, the initiative formalises a growing consensus among partner nations that the global economy is being reorganised by AI—and that secure access to critical minerals, semiconductor manufacturing, compute capacity, energy, and trusted digital infrastructure is now a matter of economic and national security.
The United States convened partners from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia, with guest contributions from Taiwan, the European Union, Canada, and the OECD. Collectively, these countries anchor the semiconductor and AI supply chain, home to companies such as Sony, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Samsung, SK Hynix, Temasek, DeepMind, MGX, Rio Tinto, and ASML.
The initiative also underscores a geopolitical shift. The United States has asserted that economic security is now inseparable from national security, particularly as AI accelerates global competition. Partner countries echoed the view that trustworthy systems—such as secure fibre networks, hardened data centres, and protected semiconductor lines—are essential for safeguarding innovation, investment, and future growth.
India and the United States have been at odds over tariffs and trade deal negotiations. Amid this, the ongoing tussle for critical minerals has also opened multiple fronts where the world powers are competing for a slice of the resources, largely controlled by China. Reportedly, India has been left out of the league, over the seemingly uncompromising American stance on tariffs being imposed against India.
Overall, Trump’s new move seems to reflect global politics and reality. Though Trump’s several decisions so far have faced a lot of criticism, this is perhaps the first time that any of Trump’s plans can be considered based on reality and truth. This is perhaps the first time that the way in which the United States has destroyed peace and order in various countries for the past several decades for its own interests is acknowledged and a desire put an end to it, has been expressed.
Trump, who is basically a businessman and most of whose decisions have been criticised, has also faced reality and, for the first time in history, as an American politician, said what anti-American individuals and organisations had been saying for decades, but Trump’s business ideology is at the forefront because he wants to reduce the US defence budget by blocking US forces from Europe and other countries and spend this money to make America a superpower.
This proposal has also revealed another aspect of his personality, that Trump considers it better not to turn a blind eye to the reality. A personal aspect that has been hidden from the world until now. At the same time, this proposal can bring both political and public benefits to his personality as a world leader.
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Asad Mirza is a New Delhi-based senior commentator on national, international, defence and strategic affairs. The views expressed here are the author’s own and Clarion India does not necessarily share or subscribe to them.
