India Wary of Trump’s ‘Peace Board’ Over Fears It Could Internationalise Kashmir

Despite receiving an invitation from US President Donald Trump to join the newly formed ‘Board of Peace,’ India has so far stayed away from the initiative, raising speculation that concerns over the Kashmir dispute are driving New Delhi’s reluctance.

India was notably absent from the Davos ceremony where around 20 world leaders — including Trump and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — signed the board’s charter. While the stated aim of the body is to make the Gaza ceasefire permanent and oversee an interim administration in the Palestinian territory, critics in India fear it could eventually expand its scope to other global conflicts.

Trump has previously suggested that the board could serve as a future alternative to the United Nations and has repeatedly offered to mediate between India and Pakistan over Kashmir — offers New Delhi has consistently rejected, particularly after heightened tensions between the two countries in May 2025.

According to a BBC Hindi report, the timing of the board’s creation, as the US pulls out of several UN agencies, has raised questions about whether Washington intends to sideline the UN and consolidate influence through a new global peace mechanism. Some analysts also worry it could reinforce a US-dominated unipolar world order.

In a recent editorial, The Hindu described Pakistan’s decision to join the board as a “warning signal to India,” noting Trump’s eagerness to portray himself as a global peacemaker. The paper warned that if Kashmir were drawn into the board’s peace agenda, India could face international pressure or even peacekeeping deployments — outcomes New Delhi has long opposed.

Former Indian ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin wrote in the Times of India that while the UN Security Council had set a fixed term for the Gaza-focused framework until December 2027, Trump’s version of the peace plan appears open-ended and potentially applicable beyond Gaza, raising alarms among UN officials.

Ranjit Roy, a former Indian ambassador to Nepal and Vietnam, said India faces a difficult choice. Joining the board, he argued, carries high risks given Trump’s transactional style of diplomacy and the lack of clarity over whether all countries would hold equal status within the body.

Meanwhile, The Hindu suggested that strained US-India relations and sensitive trade negotiations may be factors behind New Delhi’s cautious approach, as outright rejection of Trump’s invitation could provoke diplomatic backlash.

For now, India’s silence reflects a balancing act — weighing geopolitical pressures against long-standing resistance to international involvement in Kashmir.