Pakistan to recommend Donald Trump for Nobel peace prize
Pakistan has announced that it will formally recommend President Trump as a nominee for the Nobel peace prize for his 'great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship' in securing a ceasefire its recent conflict with India.
The announcement came on Saturday, hours after Trump took credit for a peace deal negotiated in Washington between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and at a time the US leader is considering potential intervention in the Middle East.
• US moves B-2 stealth bombers as Israel-Iran conflict continues
'The government of Pakistan has decided to formally recommend President Donald J Trump for the 2026 Nobel peace prize,' the Pakistani government wrote on social media. It said the decision was taken 'in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis'.
It comes after Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, had an unprecedented one-on-one meeting with Trump on Wednesday at the White House, during which they engaged in discussions for more than two hours.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces, reported that Munir conveyed his 'deep appreciation' for Trump's role in brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a four-day conflict in May between the two nuclear-armed nations.
Last month, Trump recounted his memory of the conflict while speaking to reporters. 'I said, 'Come on, we're going to do a lot of trade with you guys [India and Pakistan]. Let's stop it. Let's stop it. If you stop it, we'll do a trade. If you don't stop it, we're not going to do any trade.''
India, meanwhile, denied that the US president had any role in its ceasefire with Pakistan.
'The talks regarding cessation of military action were held directly between India and Pakistan under the existing channels established between both militaries,' India's foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, said in a press release on Wednesday.
Some analysts have said Pakistan's nomination is absurd. Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani ambassador to the US and UN, said: 'Ingratiation cannot serve as policy. It is unfortunate that the government is recommending Trump for a Nobel peace prize.
'A man who has backed Israel's genocidal war in Gaza and called Israel's attack on Iran as 'excellent'. This move does not reflect the views of the people of Pakistan.'
Despite concerns in Washington about Pakistan's close alignment with Beijing, Pakistan remains significant to the US. Islamabad has not alleviated these worries, particularly as it seeks new deals for advanced weaponry and technology from China, its primary arms supplier.
Amit Ranjan, a research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, told The Sunday Times: 'Trump's lunch with Field Marshal Munir suggests a growing closeness between Pakistan and the US. However, the nature of this relationship will depend on how China looks at it.
'The nomination is Pakistan's way to thank Trump for his role in the ceasefire during military confrontation with India.'
Pakistan has had a complicated security relationship with the US, collaborating with Washington while also supporting militants opposing Nato forces in Afghanistan. General Michael Kurilla, the head of US Central Command, recently commended Pakistan's military, describing their collaboration as a 'phenomenal partnership' in the fight against Afghanistan-based militant Islamist group Isis-K.
Trump expressed gratitude to Pakistan for handing over an Isis-K member suspected of involvement in a bombing that killed 13 American troops during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In the past, Trump has received several Nobel peace prize nominations from his supporters, and is said to crave the award.
However, on Friday he posted on social media to lament he will probably never win the accolade. 'No, I won't get a Nobel peace prize no matter what I do … whatever those outcomes may be, but the people know, and that's all that matters to me!' he wrote.
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