India Fears Trump’s Peace Board Could Spotlight Kashmir Dispute

Despite President Donald Trump’s invitation, India has not yet officially joined the “Board of Peace.”

Some in India are interpreting New Delhi’s hesitation through the prism of the Kashmir dispute, given its conspicuous absence from the Davos event where 20 international leaders, including Trump and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, signed the board’s charter.

According to President Trump, the board’s objectives are to monitor an interim administration in the Palestinian territory and establish a durable peace between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

“This is for the entire world, not just America. I believe we can expand it to other areas. At the time, he had stated, “Like we did successfully in Gaza.”

However, there appears to be worry in some quarters that if India joins the board, which Trump sees as a potential substitute for the UN, it may expose the disputed region of controlled Kashmir to more international or American scrutiny.

Despite Trump’s numerous offers to resolve the Kashmir dispute, particularly after the two South Asian adversaries’ May 2025 altercation, New Delhi has adamantly rejected all such attempts to date.

The “Board of Peace” is being established at a time when the United States is pulling out of a number of UN organizations, according to a BBC Hindi report. This raises the question of whether the board intends to make the international organization obsolete.

Some groups are also worried that the board will just reinforce the US-dominated unipolar world.

The Hindu daily described Pakistan’s move to join the board as “a warning signal to India” in a recent editorial on the subject.

The US president’s tendency to act as a “peacemaker” and his claims to have resolved numerous regional and international problems in his first year in office were cited by the newspaper as the reason for its concern.

The Peace Board will attempt to settle the Kashmir problem if Trump chooses to include it in [his] peace aspirations. It will also be challenging for India to oppose to the deployment of its troops in the international peacekeeping force after it joins the board, the editorial stated.

Syed Akbaruddin, a former Indian ambassador to the UN, recently stated in the Times of India that this board’s term is set by a Security Council resolution to end on December 31, 2027, and that it must report to the Security Council every six months.

In contrast, Trump’s peace plan appears to have no specific period and “could be used outside Gaza as well,” he said, adding that this is done to ensure that this temporary arrangement does not evolve into a permanent worldwide model.

According to him, some UN representatives are also suggesting that other conflict areas may use this structure.

However, Ranjit Roy, who served as India’s ambassador to Vietnam and Nepal, thinks it will be difficult for New Delhi to decide on Trump’s “Board of Peace.”

India’s predicament has gotten worse. It will have an effect whether India adopts it or not. Joining the Peace Board has a lot of dangers, in my opinion. He was quoted by BBC Hindi as saying, “First of all, Trump is its chairman, and it seems pointless to expect justice from his transactional approach.”

Roy stated, “It’s unclear if every nation will have the same status in this.”

Each nation has a single vote, just like in the UN General Assembly. It was restricted to Gaza when it was approved by the Security Council, but with the modifications, it may now be extended outside of Gaza.

“The rift in US-India relations and the delicate situation of trade talks may also be reasons for not rejecting Trump’s invitation at this stage,” the Hindu editorial stated. As with the French president, doing so might make Trump unhappy.