- Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada also asked to join board.
- Erdogan asked to become “founding member” of Gaza board.
- Trump already declared himself chair of the “Board of Peace”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has received an invitation from United States (US) President Donald Trump to join the Board of Peace on Gaza, the Foreign Office confirmed on Sunday.
In response to media queries, FO Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said: “Pakistan will remain engaged with international efforts for peace and security in Gaza, leading to a lasting solution to the Palestine issue in accordance with United Nations resolutions.”
Pakistan has reiterated at international forums its readiness to play a “constructive role” in the US peace plan for Palestine.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said last month that Pakistan’s civil and military leadership was fully aligned on not sending troops to Gaza to disarm Hamas.
Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” for postwar Gaza began to take shape Saturday, with the leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina and Canada asked to join.
The announcements from those leaders came after the US president named his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and senior negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to the panel.
Trump had already declared himself the chair of the body, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in the Palestinian territory, which lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment.
The moves came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held its first meeting in Cairo, which was attended by Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who has partnered with Witkoff for months on the issue.
In Canada, a senior aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney had said he intended to accept Trump’s invitation, while in Turkey, a spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had been asked to become a “founding member” of the board. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had said Cairo was “studying” a request for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to join.
Sharing an image of the invitation letter, Argentine President Javier Milei wrote on X that it would be “an honour” to participate in the initiative.
In a statement sent to AFP, Blair said: “I thank President Trump for his leadership in establishing the Board of Peace and am honoured to be appointed to its Executive Board.”
Blair is a controversial figure in the Middle East because of his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Trump himself said last year that he wanted to make sure Blair was an “acceptable choice to everybody.” Blair spent years focused on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as representative of the “Middle East Quartet” – the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia – after leaving Downing Street in 2007.
The White House said the Board of Peace will take on issues such as “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding and capital mobilisation.”
Board’s charter seeks $1bn for extended membership
A draft charter sent to about 60 countries by the US administration calls for members to contribute $1 billion in cash if they want their membership to last more than three years, according to the document seen by Reuters.
“Each Member State shall serve a term of no more than three years from this Charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the Chairman,” the document, first reported by Bloomberg News, shows.
“The three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force.”
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