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ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the first meeting of US President Donald Trump’s Peace Council in Washington today (Thursday).
In addition to eight Muslim countries, several other nations will attend the meeting to be chaired by Trump. Prime Minister Shehbaz will attend the session along with a delegation that also includes Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as the country’s foreign minister.
Discussions at the meeting will focus on the reconstruction of Gaza, strengthening the ceasefire and meeting funding obligations.
Before Pakistan commits to sending troops to Gaza as part of the International Stabilization Force (ISF), it wants assurances from the United States that the mission will be for peacekeeping rather than disarming Hamas, three sources told Reuters.
Trump is expected to announce a multibillion-dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detailed plans for a UN-authorized stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave.
Three government sources said during the visit to Washington that Sharif wanted to better understand the ISF’s objectives, what authority they were operating under and what the chain of command was before making a decision to deploy troops.
“We are ready to send troops. Let me make it clear that our troops can only be part of a peace mission in Gaza,” said one of the sources, a close aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz.
“We will not be part of any other role, such as disarming Hamas. That is out of the question,” he said. Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan calls for a force of Muslim nations to oversee a transitional period of reconstruction and economic recovery in the devastated Palestinian territory, and Washington has pressed Islamabad to join.
Analysts say Pakistan would be an asset to the multinational force with its experienced military that has gone to war with arch-rival India and tackled insurgencies.
“We can initially send a few thousand troops at any time, but we need to know what role they are going to play,” the source added.
Two of the sources said it was likely that the prime minister, who has met Trump earlier this year in Davos and late last year at the White House, would either have an audience with him on the sidelines of the meeting or the following day at the White House.
Originally designed to cement the Gaza ceasefire, Trump sees the Peace Council, launched in late January, taking a broader role in resolving global conflicts. Some countries have reacted cautiously, fearing that it could become a rival to the UN.
While Pakistan has supported the establishment of the board, it has expressed concern over the mission to demilitarize Hamas.
Analysts say Islamabad will have to strike a balance between pleasing Trump by providing troops and any potential domestic fallout in a predominantly Muslim nation.
Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, said the Pakistani public supported sending troops to Gaza only to help protect the Palestinians.
“If post-dispatch developments in Gaza do not improve the position of the Palestinians, there could be a massive public response in Pakistan,” said Haqqani, currently a researcher at the Hudson Institute in Washington.
(With input from REUTERS)
