Opinion India should handle Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace invite with care, caution

In November last year, India welcomed the United Nations Security Council’s near-unanimous adoption — with only Russia and China abstaining — of Resolution 2803. First, the proposed peace plan for Gaza emphasised the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and, in effect, advocated for a two-state solution, which aligns with Delhi’s principled position on the matter. Second, the plan and the proposed Board of Peace to help Gaza transition back to normalcy sought to put an end to the growing death toll and horrors wreaked on civilians. Now, with Washington extending an invitation to India — along with 60 other countries — to join the proposed Board, Delhi must weigh its options, principles, and interests. The Board is evidently an American initiative and may well introduce another floating variable into the geopolitical uncertainty wrought by the Trump administration.

Beyond Gaza and Palestine, the architecture of the proposed Board and the current global context raise several uncertainties that must be navigated carefully. First, it appears to make Donald Trump, beyond his role as US President, the final voice in the body. The vague language about its mission — “to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict” — leaves room for several contradictions, especially at a time when Washington seeks to dismantle the global order it championed post World War II. Take just two current flashpoints: What if the diplomatic row between Europe and the US over Greenland escalates? Or, if Washington chooses more kinetic intervention in its bid to dislodge theocracy in Iran? Peace and rebuilding in Gaza isn’t a real-estate project, it needs consensus, negotiations, concessions between a range of regional and global players in a deeply fraught context. How Trump’s blunt sledgehammers help nurture this remains to be seen. That’s why nations, including India, must leave their options open during a time of flux. In fact, it is essential for them to communicate with each other and identify areas of convergence as they attempt to navigate a mercurial White House.

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The UNSC’s mandate for the Board of Peace was limited to Gaza and Palestine. It is in this theatre that the US must build credibility with its proposed partners before it seeks to expand the Board’s role. Washington cannot pull out the tariff gun at every imagined slight on the one hand, and expect to build a coalition that follows its lead on the other. For India, the rocky road ahead will require both patience and nimbleness to protect its interests. Delhi cannot afford to lose a seat at the table that will be a major factor in West Asia and beyond. At the same time, it must remain anchored to its principles and autonomy that shape its national interest.