Pakistan’s decision to join Trump’s ‘Peace Council’ draws mixed reactions

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday defended Pakistan’s decision to join US President Donald Trump’s “Peace Council”, amid criticism calling the action “reckless” and “indefensible”.

This decision was announced earlier today by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Other countries that accepted the invitation to join the board include Indonesia, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The proposed board would be chaired for life by Trump and would initially focus on the Gaza conflict before expanding to other wars. Member countries would be required to pay a $1 billion membership fee to obtain permanent membership.

Speaking on the subject in an interview on Discussion on the capital on a private news channel, the defense minister said that the gathering of countries invited to the board meeting was vast and Pakistan should be a part of such a group and its findings.

“There is a greater chance that we will lose our relevance in whatever is decided by remaining absent from this forum. If we are present, we will be able to better raise our voice for our Palestinian brothers.”

He said Gaza would be the central foreign policy issue discussed on the platform. “Pakistan should make full use of this forum,” Asif added.

The comments follow criticism from other politicians such as Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir, who denounced the government’s decision as “morally incorrect and indefensible, both in principle and policy.”

Regarding X, the senator said the initiative was problematic from the start. “Designed as an externally managed arrangement for post-war Gaza, it effectively takes away the right to govern from the Palestinian people themselves,” he said.

“By placing reconstruction, security, and political control in the hands of outside actors, the project undoubtedly bears the imprint of a neocolonial enterprise. Such frameworks rarely end with the administration. Trump’s initiative will, over time, erode the very right to self-determination that it purports to safeguard.”

Senator Nasir said he was particularly concerned about Pakistan’s participation. “What makes Pakistan’s participation more troubling is that an initiative initially presented as a limited mechanism for reconstruction after the genocide in Gaza is now openly broadened. The statements of its main sponsor and the content of its draft charter suggest ambitions well beyond Palestine, with little respect for the United Nations. The lack of clear UN oversight and the expansion of the board’s mandate suggest an attempt to supplant, or at the very least marginalize, the existing multilateral system. “

He added that by lending its name to the project, “Pakistan appears to be supporting a structure that sidelines the UN and replaces international law with a personalized policy platform. This sits uneasily with Islamabad’s reliance on multilateral forums and UN resolutions, particularly on issues such as Kashmir, where Pakistan consistently upholds the primacy of international legality.”

The Leader of Opposition in the Senate further criticized the apparent inconsistency in Pakistan’s foreign policy. “Pakistan cannot credibly maintain the centrality of the UN where it serves its interests while participating in initiatives that weaken the institution elsewhere. Nor does this alignment serve the Palestinian cause, which has always been based on principles of self-determination and UN-backed legitimacy, not externally imposed models of governance.”

He concluded by warning of long-term consequences: “Foreign policy decisions driven by short-term calculations often produce lasting consequences. By associating itself with a project that undermines both Palestinian agency and the United Nations system, Pakistan risks diluting its moral standing and strategic coherence. It is a decision that Pakistan will regret.”

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said he rejected the government’s decision.

“Trump’s Peace Council is a new form of colonialism, which includes criminals like Tony Blair, responsible for the destruction of Iraq. The Peace Council is a new system aimed at seizing Palestinian land and resources. The US occupation of Gaza under the pretext of reconstruction is unacceptable.

“The position taken by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, according to which Pakistan announced its support for the Gaza peace plan through a UN Security Council resolution, is contrary to the facts. Trump himself said that his Peace Council could one day replace the United Nations. After such a position by Trump, what justification is there for Pakistan’s participation in this council? We state once again very clearly that Pakistani armed forces should under no circumstances be sent to Gaza.”

Former UN envoy and ambassador Maleeha Lodhi called the move a “reckless decision for many reasons.”

Former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari echoed his thoughts on the decision.

Former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said the decision to join without any public debate or input from Parliament “smacks of this regime’s contempt for the Pakistani nation.”