India rejects Donald Trump’s invitation? PM Modi remains absent as US President inaugurates Board of Peace; Pak PM Sharif, Army Chief Asim Munir attend

U.S. President Donald Trump inaugurated ‘Board of Peace’ on Thursday, January 22 at the event as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Representatives of 19 countries and the U.S. were present at the event, including Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.

PM Modi has also received invitation from US President to join the Board of Peace, however, India was absent from the signing event. While Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, were among the countries that have accepted Trump’s invitation, India is yet to take a decision, to officially accept or reject the invitation.

What is Board of Peace?

Donald Trump had proposed setting up the Board of Peace when he announced his plan in September 2024 to end the Israel-Hamas conflict, and sent invitation sent to 60 world leaders last week. The members have to contribute $1 billion in cash if they want their membership to last more than three years, which Trump is expected to chair for life. US’ Peace of Board, is seek to rival to United Nations to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in world, initiating with ending Israel’s war with Hamas, and other conflicts in Middle East.

Donald Trump claimed that 35 countries have signed up to join the board, including regional Middle East powers such as Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while only 19 countries representatives were present at the stage. However,  traditional U.S. allies, namely European countries and Canada have been opted out to commit to the initiative or its membership fee. 

Which countries accepted, rejected and are non-committal?

• Countries accepting the offer are: Argentina, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Morocco, Mongolia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
• Rejected the offer: France, Norway, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom are among those which will not join the board, at least for now.
• Non-Committal: European Union, Canada, Cambodia, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Paraguay, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, India,  Ukraine.