Trump invites India and Pakistan to be part of Board of Peace for Gaza

India has been invited by US President Donald Trump to be part of the Board of Peace for Gaza along with other global partners, news agency PTI quoted official sources as saying on Sunday (January 18).

Trump’s Board of Peace is being projected by Washington as a new international body to usher in peace and stability in Gaza and beyond, triggering speculation that it may respond to other global conflicts as well.

Hungary, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus and Pakistan also said on Sunday they had received invitations. Canada, Turkiye, Egypt, Paraguay, Argentina and Albania have already said they were invited. It was not clear how many have been invited in all.

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accepted an invitation to join the board, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told state radio on Sunday. Orban is one of Trump’s most ardent supporters in Europe.

The US is expected to announce its official list of members in the coming days, likely during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Trump’s 20-point plan

The US president unveiled the board as part of the second phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In October last year, Israel and Hamas agreed to Trump’s peace plan.

Originally, the new body was to be tasked with overseeing governance and coordinating funding for Gaza’s redevelopment as the strip was devastated during two years of Israeli military offensive.

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The White House has already announced that the Board of Peace will play an essential role in fulfilling Trump’s 20-point plan of providing strategic oversight, mobilising international resources and ensuring accountability as “Gaza transitions from conflict to peace and development”.

The 20-point plan includes making Gaza a de-radicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours and its redevelopment for the benefit of the people of the strip.

Executive board

The White House last week announced forming a founding executive board to operationalise the Board of Peace’s vision.

The members of the executive committee include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, US special envoy to the Middle-East Steve Witkoff, businessman and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and World Bank president Ajay Banga.

The other two members of the committee are Marc Rowan, the CEO of the New York-headquartered private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and Robert Gabriel, a US national security adviser.

The executive board will oversee another administrative group called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG).

Ambit beyond Gaza

Though the board is to work for ensuring peace and development in Gaza, a letter from Trump to Argentinian President Javier Milei clearly has indicated that the new international body’s ambition will be wider. Milei has posted the letter on social media.

In the letter, Trump has said the board would seek to solidify peace in the Middle East and that it would embark on a “bold new approach to resolving Global Conflict” as well.

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The Financial Times, quoting from the charter of the board, said it is “an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict”.

“Durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed,” the newspaper quoted from the charter.

The top level of the board will consist “exclusively” of heads of states under Trump’s leadership, the newspaper quoted a White House official as saying.

USD 1 billion for permanent membership

A USD 1 billion contribution secures permanent membership on the Trump-led board instead of a three-year appointment, which has no contribution requirement, according to a US official who spoke to news agency AP on condition of anonymity about the charter, which hasn’t been made public. The official said the money raised would go to rebuilding Gaza.

In letters sent Friday to world leaders inviting them to be “founding members,” Trump said the Board of Peace would “embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict.” That could become a potential rival to the United Nations, the global body created in the wake of World War II.

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Its clout has been diminished by major funding cuts by the Trump administration and other donors, and its most powerful body, the UN Security Council, has been blocked by US vetoes from taking action to end the war in Gaza.

Members also include representatives of ceasefire monitors Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye. Turkiye has a strained relationship with Israel but good relations with Hamas and could play an important role in persuading the group to yield power in Gaza and disarm.

(With agency inputs)