Former ambassador to the US, UK and the UN Maleeha Lodhi led the criticism, describing the move as “unwise for many reasons.”…reports Asian Lite News
Pakistan’s decision to join US President Donald Trump’s proposed ‘Board of Peace’ has drawn sharp criticism at home, with former ambassador to the US, UK and the UN Maleeha Lodhi leading the charge, calling the move “unwise for many reasons”.
In a post on X, Lodhi warned that Islamabad had overlooked the broader political implications of the initiative. “An unwise decision for many reasons. The government has overlooked the fact that Trump wants states to join the board to secure international support and legitimacy for what are and will be unilateral actions by him,” she said, adding that the board’s remit was “very broad and beyond Gaza”, making Pakistan’s participation even more questionable.
Maleeha Lodhi has warned that President Donald Trump’s Middle East policies are undermining multilateralism and weakening the authority of the United Nations.
“The government has overlooked the fact that Trump wants states to join the board to secure international support and legitimacy for what are and will be unilateral actions by him.”
-Maleeha Lodhi
According to Dawn, Lodhi said Trump’s “America First” approach reflects contempt for international law and collective decision-making, favouring the use of raw power despite his pledge to end wars. She argued that this is most evident in Gaza, where US backing for Israel has highlighted what UN Secretary General António Guterres has called an “age of impunity”.
The newspaper quoted Lodhi as saying the UN’s failure to halt the war in Gaza exposes the paralysis of the multilateral system under big-power politics. She also cautioned that Trump’s unilateral initiatives and US withdrawal from several international and UN bodies are further eroding the global rules-based order.
As reported by Dawn, Lodhi said these policies are contributing to growing instability in the Middle East and a more lawless international environment.
Opposition voices echoed these concerns. Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, a senator and senior opposition leader, described the initiative as “morally incorrect and indefensible”, arguing that it undermines Palestinian self-determination. He said the board, presented initially as a post-war reconstruction mechanism for Gaza, effectively strips Palestinians of their right to govern themselves by placing reconstruction, security and political oversight in the hands of external actors.
Calling it a “neo-colonial enterprise”, Abbas warned that the initiative’s scope was expanding well beyond Gaza, with little regard for the United Nations. “The absence of clear UN oversight and the board’s widening mandate point towards an attempt to supplant, or at the very least marginalise, the existing multilateral system,” he said.
Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP) Vice Chairman Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar also criticised the government for joining the board without parliamentary debate, saying it reflected “disregard” for the Pakistani people. He described the ‘Board of Peace’ as a colonial project aimed at creating a parallel system to the UN, granting sweeping powers to its chairman.
According to Khokhar, the draft charter allows the chairman to nominate or dismiss members, control the agenda and exercise an absolute veto, while a reported billion-dollar fee for permanent membership risks turning the body into “a rich man’s club”.
The criticism follows an announcement by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirming that Pakistan would join the Board of Peace to support implementation of the Gaza Peace Plan under UN Security Council Resolution 2803. Islamabad said it hoped the initiative would lead to a permanent ceasefire, increased humanitarian aid for Palestinians and the reconstruction of Gaza.
