Trump Unveils His ‘Board of Peace’ at Ceremony Attended By Pakistan PM Sharif, Field Marshal Asim Munir
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump and dignitaries from 19 other countries – absent several key allies of Washington – signed the charter of his ‘Board of Peace’ initiative on Thursday (January 22) in Davos, Switzerland, marking a formal beginning for the controversial body.
Although it was conceived as part of Washington's ‘peace proposal’ for Gaza that precipitated the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October, the Board's charter and Trump's remarks indicate that the president's ambitions for the body extend far beyond the battered coastal strip and that it is designed to sideline the United Nations.
Trump invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the Board but neither he nor New Delhi have responded yet.
Among the dignitaries who signed the Board's charter sitting next to Trump was Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Trump specifically acknowledged the presence of Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir in the audience.
Pakistan's membership in the Board and the two leaders' presence at the ceremony comes at a time of rapprochement between Islamabad and Washington, which has included the former's endorsement of Trump's repeated claim to have ended the Indo-Pakistani conflict of May last year, which New Delhi denies. The president again made this assertion on Thursday and recalled Sharif's adulatory remarks at the ‘Gaza Peace Summit’ in Egypt shortly after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire went into effect.
Islamabad is also considering contributing troops to the ‘International Stabilisation Force’ that the Gaza peace proposal also includes and which was touted as a “long-term internal security solution” for the territory.
Its decision to join the Board has, however, triggered criticism from opposition parties at home. Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman, who opposed the move, noted in Pakistan's parliament that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would sit “shoulder-to-shoulder” with Sharif on the Board and that the US earlier this month had abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from Caracas, Dawn reported. Gohar Ali Khan, leader of the Tehreek-e-Insaf, also regretted that the government had “ignored the House” before joining the body.
Foreign minister Tariq Chaudhry defended his government's decision, saying it was motivated by ‘national interest and the collective priorities of the Muslim Ummah’ as opposed to political reasons, per Dawn.
Apart from Sharif, the other heads of state who signed the charter were Argentine President Javier Milei, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Paraguayan President Santiago Pena, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Mongolian Prime Minister Gombojavyn Zandanshatar.
Dignitaries from Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE too were present.
The event also featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week. But there was no confirmation of that from Israel, which said only that it would consider the matter next week.
In his speech, Trump tried not to let those who did not participate ruin his unveiling party, saying 59 countries had signed onto the Board, although only 19 nations other than the US were represented at the event. He told the group that “you're the most powerful people in the world.”
Secretary of state Marco Rubio said some countries' leaders have indicated they plan to join but still require approval from their parliaments.
Before going on to take credit for ‘ending’ eight conflicts around the world, Trump signalled that his ambitions for the Board were not limited to Gaza. “I think we can spread out to other things as we succeed in Gaza,” he said, adding: “Once this Board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do.”
This it will do “in conjunction with the United Nations”, said Trump in a remark more conciliatory than his statements suggesting that the Board could replace some UN functions and perhaps even make that entire body obsolete one day. However he still denigrated the global body for doing what he said wasn't enough to calm some conflicts around the globe.
Why some countries aren't participating
Big questions remain, however, about what the eventual board will look like.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country is still consulting with Moscow's “strategic partners” before deciding to commit. The Russian leader was hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday in Moscow.
Others are asking why Putin and other authoritarian leaders had even been invited to join. Britain's foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said her country wasn't signing on “because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues”.
“And we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine,” she told the BBC.
Norway and Sweden have indicated they won't participate. France declined after its officials stressed that while they support the Gaza peace plan, they were concerned the board could seek to replace the UN. China too has indicated it will not join.
Canada, Ukraine and the executive arm of the European Union also haven't committed. Trump calling off the steep tariffs he threatened over Greenland could ease some allies' reluctance, but the issue is still far from settled.
The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin plans to discuss his proposal to send $1 billion to the Board of Peace and use it for humanitarian purposes during his talks with Abbas – if Russia can use those assets the US had previously blocked.
Netanyahu said he had agreed to join the board, although he did not attend the signing ceremony.
October's ceasefire halted the Israel-Hamas war that began two years prior after Tel Aviv launched its military campaign in Gaza following Hamas's terror attack in Israel in which it killed some 1,200 people and took around 200 others hostage.
Over 71,000 Palestinians were killed during the war, which reduced much of Gaza to rubble and caused parts of the territory to slip into conditions of famine. The scale of the devastation has prompted charges of genocide against Israel.
With inputs from AP.
This article went live on January twenty-third, two thousand twenty six, at fifty-four minutes past twelve at night.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
