US President’s attempt to make global institutions like the United Nations redundant through the Peace Board for the alleged reconstruction of Gaza, uneasiness around the world due to claim on Greenland.
US President Donald Trump’s ‘peace board’ was originally intended to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, which was announced last September as part of a 20-point peace plan. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were members of the founding executive board. But since then its scope has increased and now Trump is saying that this model can be used to resolve conflicts in future. This has caused uneasiness all over the world, because this board is considered to be interfering in the traditional role of the United Nations.
“The US President will be the first Chairman of the Board and will be tasked with promoting peace and resolving conflicts around the world,” a draft of the charter says. It also says the Board will carry out “peace-building work in accordance with international law”, raising alarm bells across the world.
Trump’s hatred towards the United Nations and other multilateral organizations is well known. Earlier this month, Donald Trump signed a memorandum in which America talked about withdrawing from 66 international organizations. It has 31 UN institutions and 35 non-UN treaties like Prime Minister Modi’s International Solar Alliance, which is a sign of retreat from multilateral engagement. The reason given behind this was that these organizations were useless and wasteful.
In November the UN Security Council approved the peace board, but only until 2027. And also that its focus will be only on Gaza. Russia and China did not take part in the voting. He says that America’s proposal does not mention any clear role for the United Nations in Gaza.
Trump sent invitations to 50 countries to participate, but only representatives of 19 countries attended the signing event in Davos on Thursday. CNN quoted a senior American official as saying that about 35 countries had agreed to participate. Invitations were also sent to Russia and China. India and Pakistan were also in this list. Islamabad agreed to participate, while India has not yet taken a decision and stayed away from the event.
Its permanent membership costs $1 billion, while three-year membership is free. Russia’s Vladimir Putin wanted to attend, but said the $1 billion fee should come from Moscow funds that have been frozen by the Joe Biden government following the military crackdown in Ukraine.
“Before we decide to formally participate in the peace board, given Russia’s special relations with the Palestinian people, I believe we can send one billion US dollars to the council,” Putin said. For this, those Russian assets should be used which were frozen under the previous US government.
Four European countries France, Sweden, Norway and Slovenia have refused to be part of the board. Slovenia’s Prime Minister Robert Golob said that “the time has not yet come to accept the invitation.” Relations between France and America have soured after Trump’s previous threat to occupy Greenland. The government of President Emmanuel Macron has decided to stay away from Trump in view of his efforts to weaken the United Nations system. France is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council along with America, Britain, Russia and China.
French Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barrow said, “Yes to the US President’s peace plan, which we wholeheartedly support, but not to creating an organization that would replace the United Nations.” There has been a dispute between Trump and Norway over the Nobel Peace Prize and Oslo is in no mood to please the American leader.
The good news for Trump is that major Muslim countries and those who worked to advance the peace deal are joining the peace board. Along with Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar and Egypt, Türkiye has also become part of this effort of America. Countries like Morocco, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Paraguay and Vietnam are also included. Armenia and Azerbaijan are also in it. Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu, a close friend and ally of Trump, will be part of the board. But the Palestinians are not happy with Netanyahu’s presence, who hold him guilty of the massacre in Gaza.
Canada has said it has agreed to join “in principle” but is considering specifics. However, key Western allies such as Britain, Germany and Japan have not yet joined and were not present at the signing ceremony for the board. Trump is in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum. Italy’s Giorgia Meloni may join in a few days. She is also a friend of the American President. Pope Leo was also invited, but he did not come.
However, no one knows for sure how the board will function. The most important thing is to rebuild civil facilities for the devastated people of Gaza and provide them with clean water, food and medical aid. Well, amidst this diplomatic tussle, the ground reality in Gaza remains devastation, displacement and misery. Whether the Peace Board will bring a new turn or remain just an experiment will be decided not in the meetings, but on the ground of Gaza.
join or leave
So far, nothing specific has been said by India on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government should join President Donald Trump’s ‘peace board’ for disarming Hamas, technocratic rule and reconstruction of Gaza devastated by Israeli bombing. Therefore India stayed away from the signing ceremony of Davos.
This is the second phase of the 20-point US peace plan, which began on October 10 last year. This plan led to a ceasefire and the release of the Israeli hostages. But the first phase was very slow, in which the Israeli army IDF has not implemented the agreed proposals.
This proposal puts India in a difficult situation, as this US-led initiative bypasses the UN and puts Washington completely in the driver’s seat of the post-war political system. However, India is hoping to improve its relations with the US, which were damaged last year by Trump’s tariffs and tilt towards Pakistan. Now negotiations are going on for a bilateral trade agreement. In such a situation, it may not be in India’s interest to further anger Washington. Trump would hardly like India’s distance from the board.
However, the Board’s view runs counter to India’s long-term vision of reforming and strengthening multilateral institutions like the United Nations. Despite its disappointment with the current form of the UN, India believes that wars and conflicts cannot be resolved by short-term alliances based on the interests of big powers. America’s commercial priorities and Israel’s security interests are expected to dominate the peace proposal, so questions are already being raised as to how much space will be given to the interests of the people of Gaza. In fact, before talking about reconstruction and governance issues, the immediate need for the people there is to provide temporary shelter and protection from the harsh cold.
“Of course, India should get involved,” says Abdullah M. Abu Shawesh, Palestine’s ambassador to India. It is always beneficial to stay inside rather than outside. We just want to ensure that all these steps are in accordance with international law and UN resolutions.” He hopes that New Delhi will keep a close watch on this and ensure that the peace plan does not violate UN resolutions.
However, opinion is divided on this in India. A section of the establishment believes that India should stay away from any attempt to sideline the United Nations and its institutions and should politely reject this proposal.
Retired Ambassador K.P. “India should not get involved in this,” says Fabian. We should keep in mind that Trump, in his arrogance and foolishness, has prepared a charter for a new international organization. According to international law, such a charter should be drawn up not only at a diplomatic conference, but also at a series of such conferences.Needed.”
But the pragmatic people in the government know the dangers of angering Washington at this juncture. Modi did not attend the ceasefire agreement in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, which was attended by more than 20 world leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as well as Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. India-US relations had reached a nadir in October last year. The situation has improved since the arrival of the new US Ambassador Sergio Gore. In fact, it was he who posted Trump’s invitation to Modi on X.
Many experts, including retired diplomats, say that at present India can take free membership for three years and can choose to continue or leave at the end of the tenure. This will kill two birds with one stone, it will not anger Trump and after three years, if New Delhi feels that sitting on the board without a voice is not beneficial, then it will have the option to leave. By then Trump’s tenure will also end.
The Peace Board includes: Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Those not included: France, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia
Those on the fence: Britain, China, Croatia, Germany, India, EU executive branch, Paraguay, Russia, Singapore and Ukraine
