As the federal government mulls over U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to hitch the U.S.-led Gaza “Board of Peace”, consultants cautioned that India should think about the board’s “legitimacy” and mandate rigorously. On Wednesday (January 21, 2026) , numerous nations introduced their joint determination to hitch the board together with Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, and the UAE. Israel PM Netanyahu additionally accepted the invitation.
In the meantime, sources in New Delhi stated Indian and Israeli diplomats have been discussing doable visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India quickly.
The visits are being mentioned as part of a deeper engagement with the area and the Israel-Palestine battle within the subsequent few weeks. On January 30, New Delhi will host the International Ministers of the 22-member League of Arab States, and the federal government is anticipated to seek the advice of lots of its shut companions within the area about the best way ahead on the Gaza Peace Proposal promoted by america.
Each Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed (MbZ), who visited New Delhi this week to announce a significant strategic defence partnership plan and Mr. Netanyahu, who Mr. Modi has spoken to recurrently, introduced their determination to just accept Mr. Trump’s invitation to hitch the Gaza board on Wednesday (January 21, 2026).
In response to sources, Mr. Modi can be planning a go to to West Asia subsequent month and has invites to a number of nations within the area. A senior official confirmed that he’s contemplating visiting Israel. Mr. Modi final visited Israel in 2017 and Palestine in 2018. In response to the sources, Mr. Netanyahu has a long-pending go to deliberate to India, which was scheduled, however delay as a result of completely different causes on at the least three events final 12 months.
Two-state answer
The engagements are significantly important after Mr. Trump despatched a letter inviting leaders of about 60 nations, together with India, Russia, China, Turkiye, Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan, and several other West Asian and European nations. The Ministry of Exterior Affairs declined to touch upon whether or not Mr. Modi would be part of the Board of Peace, and an official stated the matter was “underneath dialogue”. In response to consultants, the choice have to be thought-about rigorously, taking into consideration India’s help for the two-state answer for Israel and Palestine, in addition to its dedication to serving to the Palestinian folks.
“If there may be peace in Gaza, that’s good for the folks there, and India ought to take a lead in humanitarian help, particularly given its medical experience”, stated former Ambassador Anil Trigunayat, mentioning that the U.S.’s peace plan consists of discovering a pathway to the two-state answer, regardless of Israel’s opposition to it. Nevertheless, he identified that India would discover the “company governance mannequin” proposed for the Gaza Peace board, together with a one billion greenback payment for everlasting membership “troubling”.
Others pointed to Pakistan’s invitation to the board in addition to a world stabilisation drive (ISF) as regarding, in addition to Mr. Trump’s suggestion that the “peace mannequin” may very well be a substitute for the United Nations.
“Any engagement needs to be assessed in opposition to clear ideas: respect for worldwide regulation, an outlined and restricted mandate, and consistency with current multilateral frameworks, significantly the United Nations. India will presumably take a thought-about view, preserving in thoughts regional sensitivities, its long-standing positions, and the necessity to keep away from open-ended or precedent-setting preparations,” stated former International Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao, including that the federal government would in all probability anticipate higher readability on the mandate and mission of the board earlier than responding to the U.S.
Amongst leaders who had already agreed to hitch the board are leaders of Argentina, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Morocco, and Canada. Ukraine and the UK have expressed their opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin being invited.
The U.S. has additionally nominated Mr. Trump as chair, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Mr. Trump’s particular negotiator Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former U.Okay. Prime Minister Tony Blair, billionaire U.S. financier Marc Rowan, World Financial institution President Ajay Banga, and Robert Gabriel from the U.S. Nationwide Safety Council.
Printed – January 21, 2026 09:50 pm IST
