Pakistan’s decision to join Trump’s ‘Peace Agency’ is getting mixed reactions

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday defended Pakistan’s move to join US President Donald Trump’s “Peace Agency” amid criticism of the move as “unwise” and “irresponsible”.

The move was announced earlier today by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Other countries that have accepted the invitation to join the board include Indonesia, Israel, Turkiye, 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 its mandate to other wars. Member countries will be required to pay a fee of US$1 billion to secure permanent membership.

Talks about the case in an interview on Capital talk in a private news broadcast, the defense minister said that the gathering of the countries invited to the board was large and Pakistan should be part of any such grouping and its conclusions.

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

He said Gaza would be the central foreign policy issue discussed on the platform. “Pakistan should fully utilize this forum,” Asif added.

The comments came in the wake of criticism from other politicians, such as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir, who condemned the government’s decision as “morally incorrect and indefensible, both in principle and politically”.

The senator told X that the initiative was problematic from the start. “Conceived as an externally managed arrangement for post-war Gaza, it effectively removes the right to governance from the Palestinian people themselves,” he said.

“By placing reconstruction, security and political oversight in the hands of external actors, the project bears the unmistakable stamp of a neo-colonial enterprise. Such frameworks rarely end with the administration. Trump’s initiative will, over time, erode the very right to self-determination it claims to protect.”

Senator Nasir expressed particular concern over Pakistan’s participation. “What makes Pakistan’s participation more worrisome is that an initiative initially sold as a limited mechanism for post-genocide reconstruction in Gaza is now being openly expanded. Statements by its main sponsor and the content of its draft charter suggest ambitions far beyond Palestine, with little regard for the UN. The absence of clear UN oversight and at least an attempt to displace or at least an attempt to expand the mandate “marginalize the existing multilateral system.”

He added that by lending his name to the project, “Pakistan appears to be endorsing a structure that sidelines the UN and replaces international law with a personal political platform. This ties in with Islamabad’s own reliance on multilateral forums and UN resolutions, especially on issues like Kashmir, where Pakistan consistently argues for the primacy of international legality.”

The Senate Opposition Leader further criticized the apparent inconsistency in Pakistan’s foreign policy. “Pakistan cannot credibly maintain UN centrality where it suits its interests while participating in initiatives that weaken the institution elsewhere. Nor does this alignment serve the Palestinian cause, which has always rested on the 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 have lasting consequences. By associating with a project that undermines both the Palestinian Agency and the UN system, Pakistan risks diluting its moral standing and strategic coherence. It is a decision Pakistan will regret.”

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said he rejected the government’s move.

“Trump’s Peace Council is a new form of colonialism, which includes criminals like Tony Blair, who were responsible for the destruction of Iraq. The Peace Council is a new system that aims to seize Palestinian land and resources. The American occupation of Gaza under the pretext of reconstruction is unacceptable.

“The position taken by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry – that Pakistan announced support for the Gaza peace plan under a UN Security Council resolution – is contrary to the facts. Trump himself has stated that his Board of Peace could one day replace the UN. After such a position from Trump, what justification is there for Pakistan’s participation in this board? We must not once again send the armed forces of Gaza under any circumstances.”

Former UN envoy and ambassador Maleeha Lodhi criticized the move as an “unwise decision for many reasons”.

Former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari echoed her thoughts on the move.

Former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said the decision to join without any public debate or input from parliament “reeks of the disregard this regime has for the Pakistani nation”.