US President Trump invites India to be part of Board of Peace for Gaza

New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) India has been invited by US President Donald Trump to be part of the Board of Peace for Gaza along with other global partners, official sources said on Sunday.

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.

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.

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.

The US president has invited India to be part of the new body, the sources said.

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.

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).

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.

"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. PTI MPB RC