Pakistan on Saturday announced its intention to nominate US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize – an award he says he seeks – for his efforts to help resolve the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.
Some analysts in Pakistan said the move could prompt Trump to rethink possible cooperation with Israel in attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. Pakistan has condemned Israel's actions as a violation of international norms and a threat to regional stability.
In May, Trump’s surprise cease-fire announcement abruptly ended a four-day standoff between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan. Since then, Trump has repeatedly claimed that he averted a nuclear war and saved millions of lives, while complaining that he has not been given credit for his efforts.
Pakistan agrees that US intervention led to the end of hostilities, while India insists it was the result of a bilateral agreement between the two armies.
“President Trump has shown considerable strategic foresight and outstanding statesmanship in maintaining strong diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi, which has helped de-escalate a rapidly deteriorating situation,” the Pakistani official said. “This intervention is a testament to his role as a true peacemaker.”
States have the right to nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time of writing, there was no response from Washington. A spokesman for the Indian government also did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump has repeatedly signaled his willingness to mediate between India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, the main source of their feud. Islamabad, which has long called for international attention to Kashmir, is happy about this.
However, his stance has changed US policy in South Asia, which had previously supported India as a counterweight to China, and has cast doubt on the previously close relationship between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a social media post on Friday, Trump listed a slew of conflicts he said he had resolved, including India and Pakistan, as well as the Abraham Accords negotiated in his first term between Israel and a number of Muslim-majority countries. He added: “I will not win the Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do.”
Pakistan's decision to nominate Trump came the same week that its army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, met the US president for lunch, marking the first time a Pakistani military leader had been invited to the White House when Islamabad was under civilian rule.
Trump's planned meeting with Modi at the G7 summit in Canada last week did not take place when the US president left the event early, but they later discussed the situation by phone, during which Modi said “India does not and will never accept mediation” in its dispute with Pakistan, according to the Indian government.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
