Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif represented Pakistan at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, held at the U.S. Institute of Peace building on February 19. Among the attendees were President Donald Trump, the chairman of the committee, as well as Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, all of whom delivered opening remarks.
While addressing the attendees, which included the leaders of nine countries, President Trump gave special thanks to the Prime Minister for his conduct during Pakistan and India’s conflict last May and praised Field Marshal Asim Munir as a “tough fighter.”
The Prime Minister gave his own speech near the end of the meeting, praising the Board of Peace’s ambitions and the personal work President Trump has undertaken to end conflicts around the world. Speaking about the conflict with India specifically, he credited the president with potentially saving tens of millions of lives and dubbed him the “savior of South Asia.”
He also condemned violations of the ceasefire in Gaza, which impede the reconstruction process. The ceasefire violations were the primary cause of the Board’s creation. He endorsed Palestinian self-determination in line with United Nations resolutions and reiterated his trust in President Trump’s ability to secure long-lasting peace in Gaza.
The appearance at the Board of Peace meeting was yet another stop on the prime minister’s recent foreign affairs tour, coming immediately after an in-person visit to Vienna with Austria’s Chancellor, which itself was preceded by a visit by Uzbekistan’s President to Islamabad.
