India gets invite to Trump’s Board of Peace — and to deal with many tricky questions

The peace plan, and the Board of Peace as then envisioned, had received the United Nations’ approval.

However, the ‘charter’ of the Board of Peace, which has now been sent to the leaders invited to join it, shows a far more ambitious role for the Board, under the chairmanship of Trump personally, not the US President.

Invitations for membership have been sent to countries across the conventional geopolitical camps — Hungary, Albania, Greece, Poland, Belarus, Germany, Canada, Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, and Argentina, and Pakistan are among those who have received letters.

The countries who accept will get a tenure of three years, unless they pay $ 1 billion in cash in the first year of membership, in which case they become permanent members.

The many questions about this Board of Peace

The original mandate of the Board of Peace, as approved by the UN in November 2025, was to operate till the end of 2027, and neither a three-year membership nor a permanent membership were in the picture. Also, it was to operate only in Gaza.

But the invitation letter sent to India and posted on X by US ambassador Sergio Gor says the Board of Peace, “the most impressive and consequential Board ever assembled”, will be “established as a new International Organization and Transitional Governing Administration”, and that the effort is not just to “solidify Peace in the Middle East”, but also “to embark on a bold new approach to resolving Global Conflict!”

The full text of the charter, as verified and put out by the Times of Israel, shows it has 13 Articles, with details of membership, contributions, dispute redressal, etc, almost like the United Nations. The charter does not even mention Gaza, but talks of “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed”, and emphasises “the need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body.”

Trump’s disdain for the UN and other established international organisations is no secret. He has cut funds to the UN and withdrawn the US from many related bodies.

Also, the charter says the Board will work to “secure enduring peace” in areas not just affected by, but also “threatened by conflict”, without defining “threatened”.

Then there is the matter of the Board’s chairman. The charter says: “Donald J. Trump shall serve as inaugural Chairman of the Board of Peace, and he shall separately serve as inaugural representative of the United States of America.” Also, the chairman can be removed only if he voluntarily resigns, or is voted incapable unanimously by the Executive Board full of his appointees, in which case a successor designated by him shall take over.

To get the membership, a country has to consent “to be bound by this Charter.”

Therefore, accepting the invite will mean that a sovereign nation becomes the member of an organisation of which Trump will remain the chairman even when he is not the US President.

The peace plan had also envisioned an International Stabilization Force to “establish security” in Gaza, appointments to which have been announced by the White House. If the Board of Peace members are asked to contribute troops to this, many would not be comfortable.

The Executive Board’s founding members are US Secretary of State Marco Rubio; US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff; Trump’s son-in-law and businessman Jared Kushner; former UK prime minister Tony Blair; American businessman Marc Rowan; World Bank Group president Ajay Banga; and US national security adviser Robert Gabriel.

Some 60 nations seem to have been invited so far, with Hungary, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan announcing a definite acceptance.

New panels set up for Gaza

With respect to other aspects of the Gaza peace plan, the White House last week announced the formation of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), to be led by the Gaza-born technocrat Dr. Ali Sha’ath.

The NCAG will “oversee the restoration of core public services, the rebuilding of civil institutions, and the stabilisation of daily life in Gaza, while laying the foundation for long-term, self-sustaining governance,” the White House release said.

Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov will serve as the High Representative for Gaza, and will “act as the on-the-ground link between the Board of Peace and the NCAG.”

In addition, to support the High Representative and the NCAG, there is a Gaza Executive Board. Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Mladenov, and Rowan are on this too, along with Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s foreign minister; Qatari official Ali Al-Thawadi; Egyptian military officer General Hassan Rashad; Emirati politician Reem Al-Hashimy; Cypriot-Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay; and Dutch politician Sigrid Kaag. While no Palestinian is on this board, Israel too is unhappy with it, reportedly over the inclusion of figures from Qatar and Turkey.