Gaza: Pak PM Sharif may attend Trump’s Board of Peace meeting on Feb. 19
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to attend the first meeting of the Board of Peace, constituted by US President Donald Trump as part of the Gaza peace plan, on February 19 in Washington, the media reported on Monday.
Trump unveiled the board in January as part of the second phase of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. With over 60 invited members, Washington is projecting it as a new international body to usher in peace and stability in Gaza and beyond which some see as the US efforts to undermine the United Nations.
Pakistan Foreign Office on January 21 said Islamabad has accepted President Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace and that he had invited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to become part of the body.
American media on Saturday reported that the US sent invites on Friday. It is slated to be held at the US Institute of Peace at Washington.
Trump has convened the board’s first meeting to raise money for the reconstruction of Gaza. It would include both world leaders who accepted the invitation to join the board as well as members of an executive committee for Gaza that will oversee the specifics of the territory’s governance, security and redevelopment.
It was not immediately clear how many leaders would accept the Republican President’s invitation, because the meeting has not yet been formally announced and details of its agenda were still being determined.
