India’s BoP dilemma
DAWN
WHILE the Donald Trump-led Board of Peace is not without controversy, mainly because of the US president’s ambitions to create a body that could rival the UN, India faces a different dilemma where joining the board is concerned. Although Mr Trump has extended an invitation to New Delhi, reports indicate that India is “examining” the proposal. The main reason for New Delhi’s dithering, as per the Indian commentariat, may be that it fears that joining the board could lead to ‘unwanted’ attention towards the Kashmir dispute. The US leader has in the past offered his services to mediate the Kashmir question, while he also claimed to have played an integral part in bringing last year’s Pakistan-India hostilities to an end. India, however, remains allergic to third-party interest in occupied Kashmir.
India-US relations have cooled considerably since the US president’s first term. Therefore, if India stays out of the BoP, it would further invite Mr Trump’s wrath, as the American leader does not like to take no for an answer. If it joins, it may face questions about Kashmir, as Donald Trump has indicated the BoP is not just about ending the Gaza slaughter. But beyond the board’s ambitions, this episode reveals more about India’s anxieties regarding held Kashmir. While it is averse to third-party mediation, it has repeatedly rebuffed Pakistan’s attempts to discuss the matter bilaterally. This situation is unsustainable. If matters are left as they are, not only will the Kashmiri people continue to be denied their fundamental rights, but the occupied region will remain a powder keg that can ignite the entire area. Last year’s post-Pahalgam clash clearly illustrates this. India has long been dodging attempts by friendly states to help mediate the Kashmir issue. Yet it has also closed all doors for a bilateral resolution with Pakistan, as well as the representatives of the Kashmiri people. This has resulted in the permanent shadow of conflict over South Asia, while India’s hardened rhetoric has indicated that it is not interested in peace. The people of South Asia deserve better. A thorough peace process is required that can address all outstanding issues, including Kashmir. But for this, India will have to let go of its shibboleths regarding the disputed territory, stop threatening Pakistan’s security, and come to the negotiating table in a spirit of mutual respect.
Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2026
Left Parties Against India Joining Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’
Left parties in India called upon the central government not to join the so-called Board of Peace launched by the US as part of President Donald Trump’s Peace Plan for Gaza, claiming it would be a betrayal to Palestinians and antithetical to the country’s long-term commitments to the UN. “India’s participation in such a Board, which does not respect Palestinian rights, would constitute a grave betrayal of the Palestinian cause,” the country’s five major left parties claimed in a joint statement issued on Wednesday, January 21.
The signatories of the statement include Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and All India Forward Block (AIFB).
“The Indian government should stay away from such proposals and stand resolutely in defense of Palestine and other countries of the Global South that are threatened by the US imperialist ambitions,” the joint statement says.
The Board of Peace is part of the second phase of Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza. The second phase of the ceasefire deal was announced last week by Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. This was done despite the US being unable to make Israel implement the most crucial aspects of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, in force for the last three months. Israel has continued its attacks inside Gaza, killing more Palestinians, while its forces still occupy large parts beyond the so-called yellow line.
Trump will chair the board for life
On Friday, Trump announced Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and former British prime minister Tony Blair would be part of the initiative’s Executive Board under his chairmanship. Trump has declared he would be the chair of the board for life.
The board proposed two kinds of membership based on monetary contribution: countries that pay USD 1 billion would be permanent members, while others would participate for a three year term. The US has sent letters of invitation and a draft charter for the board to around 60 countries, including India, since Friday.
Trump has claimed that the board would oversee “governance capacity building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large scale funding, and capital mobilization” in the territory devastated by Israel for over two years.
As on Wednesday, only a small part of nations invited have confirmed their participation. Those that have include Israel, which has been the main responsible for the genocide and destruction in Gaza. There is no Palestinian representation to the board.
Some countries, including France, have declined Trump’s invitation to join the board, while most of the others have refrained from responding to the invitation publicly, likely due to considerations including the plan’s possible impact on the United Nations.
The board will undermine UN
Claiming that such a proposal “deliberately circumvents the UN and seeks to create a new international structure controlled” by it, left parties in India insisted that this attempt to “override existing international institutions must be firmly opposed” by countries.
Despite the fact that the UN Security Council had approved Trump’s peace plan for three years, confirming the formation of the “Board of Peace” solely for Gaza, documents sent along with the invitation claim that it will not be limited to Gaza, and may also deal with other conflicts across the world, Reuters reported on Monday.
Meanwhile, Trump has been openly claiming that the board might replace the UN which, according to him, has failed to fulfill its primary duty and has been harmful to US interests.
M. A. Baby, general secretary of the CPI (M) has noted that the board is an instrument to exploit “the destruction of Palestinian homeland for profit” by the US and its allies. Trump’s so-called peace plan, he underlined, was vague on the most crucial demand raised by the Palestinians about the end of Israeli occupation of their territories. Baby asked the Indian government to “call out Israel on their genocide and the US of being its accomplice” rather than being a part of their colonial plans.
Left parties have also been critical of the Narendra Modi-led government’s stance on Gaza since the beginning of the genocide in October 2023, accusing it of betraying India’s long-standing position in favor of Palestinian independence and openly siding with the genocidal Zionist regime.
Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch
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