Trump launches ‘Board of Peace’ as PM Shehbaz, other global leaders sign charter
Paraguay's President Santiago Pena (L), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (5L), Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani (C-R), Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita (6R), Argentina's President Javier Milei (5R), Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (2R), Bulgaria's former Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov (R), Turkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (4R) pose with US President Donald Trump signing a founding charter at the "Board of Peace" meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. — AFP
United States President Donald Trump on Thursday launched his Board of Peace, initially focused on cementing Gaza's ceasefire but which he said could take a wider role that may worry other global powers, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other world leaders signing the body's charter.
"Once this board is completely formed, we can do pretty much whatever we want to do. And we'll do it in conjunction with the United Nations," Trump said, adding that the United Nations had great potential that had not been fully utilised.
Trump, who will chair the board, invited dozens of other world leaders to join, saying he wants it to address challenges beyond the stuttering Gaza truce, stirring misgivings that it could undermine the UN's role as the main platform for global diplomacyand conflict resolution.
While Pakistan, regional Middle East powers, including Turkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as major emerging nations such as Indonesia, have joined the board, global powers and traditional Western US allies have been more cautious. Representatives from countries introduced as founder members were present in the room as Trump spoke.
Trump says permanent members must help fund with a payment of $1 billion each, and Reuters could not immediately spot any representatives from governments of top global powers or from Israel or the Palestinian Authority at the signing ceremony.
Read: Pakistan, seven other Muslim nations join Trump's Board of Peace
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the board's focus would be on making sure the plan for peace in Gaza was fulfilled but that it could also "serve as an example of what's possible in other parts of the world".
The signing ceremony was held in Davos, Switzerland, where the annual World Economic Forum bringing together global political and business leaders is taking place.
Davos: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif signs charter of Board of Peace on the sidelines of 56th Annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (Thursday, 22 January 2026).@CMShehbaz pic.twitter.com/oBfvlSEaDY
State broadcaster PTV News shared a post on X showing an interaction between PM Shehbaz and President Trump, with the former pointing out Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir in the audience to the latter.
"Pakistan’s political and military leadership drew significant attention from global leaders at the event. President Trump, during the ceremony, made a special reference to Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and welcomed him with a smile," the post said.
Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also attended the signing.
Reached Davos with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to attend the signing ceremony of the Board of Peace! pic.twitter.com/ePNuARRR6E
Global role
Apart from the US, no other permanent member of the UN Security Council — the five nations with the most say over international law and diplomacy since the end of World War Two — has yet committed to join.
Russia said late on Wednesday it was studying the proposal after Trump said it would join. France has declined. Britain said on Thursday it was not joining at present. China has not yet said whether it will join.
The board's creation was endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution as part of Trump's Gaza peace plan, and UN spokesperson Rolando Gomez said on Thursday that UN engagement with the board would only be in that context.
However, around 35 countries have committed to join, including Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey and Belarus.
Few of the countries that have signed up for the board are democracies, although Israel and Hungary, whose leaders are both seen as close allies of Trump and supporters of his approach to politics and diplomacy, have said they will join.
"There's tremendous potential with the United Nations, and I think the combination of the Board of Peace with the kind of people we have here ... could be something very, very unique for the world," Trump said.
Board members also include Rubio, the US Gaza negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and former British prime minister Tony Blair.
Brittle Gaza ceasefire
Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law, said the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal would address funding for reconstruction in the territory, which lies mostly in ruins, as well as disarmament by Hamas, one of the most intractable unresolved issues.
"If Hamas doesn't demilitarise, that would be what holds this plan back," Kushner said.
"The next 100 days we're going to continue to just be heads down and focused on making sure this is implemented. We continue to be focused on humanitarian aid, humanitarian shelter, but then creating the conditions to move forward."
In a sign of progress on unresolved elements of the first phase of the truce, the Palestinian technocratic committee leader Ali Shaath said the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, Gaza's main gateway, would reopen next week.
The ceasefire in Gaza, agreed in October, has sputtered for months with Israel and Hamas trading blame for repeated bursts of violence in which several Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinians have been killed.
Both sides accuse each other of further violations, with Israel saying Hamas has procrastinated on returning a final body of a dead hostage and Hamas saying Israel has continued to restrict aid into Gaza despite an ongoing humanitarian disaster.
Each side rejects the other's accusations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted an invitation to join the board, the Israeli leader's office said. Palestinian factions have endorsed Trump's plan and given backing to a transitional Palestinian committee meant to administer the Gaza Strip with oversight by the board.
Even as the first phase of the truce falters, its next stage must address much tougher long-term issues that have bedevilled earlier negotiations, including Hamas disarmament, security control in Gaza and eventual Israeli withdrawal.