Will India be going for the maiden meeting of US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, widely seen as his alternative to the Unitedin National in global conflict management? New Delhi is reviewing the invitation from Washington, India's ministry of external affairs said on Thursday.
India's unfriendly neighbour Pakistan, meanwhile, has announced that PM Shehbaz Sharif is going for the February 19 BoP meeting in the US.
Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a media briefing on Thursday, "As far as the Board of Peace is concerned, we have received an invitation from the US government to join. We are currently considering this proposal and reviewing it.
Pakistan announced the same day that PM Sharif would attend the meeting being convened in Washington next week.
Pak among first to join BoP
The BoP was originally meant to be only about rebuilding the Palestinian territories, mainly Gaza, ravaged by Israeli military assault. Trump later pitched it as a global force, with no mention of Gaza or any particular conflict in its charter.
None of the major countries, such as G7 members, have yet signed up.
{{/usCountry}}None of the major countries, such as G7 members, have yet signed up.
{{/usCountry}}Pakistan was among the first to sign up, though, among around two dozen countries that gave Trump his big photo-op at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, last month.
Pakistan's foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said at a weekly press briefing, "Yes, I can confirm that the prime minister will attend the upcoming Board of Peace (BoP) meeting. He will be accompanied by the deputy prime minister/foreign minister. As regards the other members of delegation and on engagements of the delegation in the US, we will inform you in due course of time," he said.
India's position
In Delhi, the MEA spokesperson reiterated India's position on Gaza: “As you are aware, India has consistently supported efforts that promote peace, stability, and dialogue in West Asia. Our Prime Minister has also welcomed all such initiatives that pave the way for long-term and lasting peace in the entire region, including Gaza.”
Jaiswal said that the government is presently reviewing the invitation and did not provide further details on whether India would participate in the upcoming meeting.
The Pakistan spokesperson said Islamabad joined the BoP “in good faith” and “not in isolation but as part of the collective voice of eight Islamic-Arab countries”.
"Our collective voice is resonating in the Board of Peace, and we will continue to strive for the rights, peace and prosperity of the people of Palestine, aimed at the long-term solution of the Palestine issue — to create a state of Palestine, in accordance with the pre-1967 border with Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital," he said.
India-US relations got back on track this month with a trade deal, after months of Trump's tariff-linked aggression and apparent coziness with Pakistan. There remain questions in Delhi, however, over Trump's condition that India will cease buying Russian oil “to stop the Ukraine war”.
Pak on US ‘role’ in last year's conflict with India
Meanwhile, the Pakistani spokesperson also said that Islamabad is "appreciative" of the role of the US during the military conflict with India in May last year — a “role” that India has denied the US even played.
Trump, in an interview to Fox Business last Tuesday, repeated his claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan last year, which he said could have turned nuclear. "I said, 'if you don't settle this war, I'm going to charge you tariffs, because I don't want to see people getting killed'," Trump claimed, repeating this assertion probably the 80th time since May 10 last year, when he announced on social media that the two neighbours had agreed to a "full and immediate" ceasefire after talks mediated by Washington.
India has consistently denied any third-party intervention after it launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 last year against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.