Pakistan announced on Saturday that it would recommend that US President Donald Trump receive the Nobel Peace Prize, an award he has repeatedly said he wants for his contributions to resolving the recent conflict between India and Pakistan.
Trump took credit for the peace agreement between Congo and Rwanda on Friday, but complained that he would not receive the Nobel Peace Prize for it, nor for preventing, as he said, the war between Kosovo and Serbia, maintaining peace between Egypt and Ethiopia, and preventing war between India and Pakistan.
Some analysts in Pakistan believe the country's proposal could prompt Trump to reconsider joining Israel in attacking Iranian nuclear facilities. Pakistan has condemned Israel's actions as a violation of international law and a threat to regional stability.
Trump abruptly announced a ceasefire in May that ended a four-day standoff between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. Since then, he has repeatedly claimed to have averted nuclear war, saving millions of lives, but has received no credit for it.
Pakistan agrees that American diplomatic intervention stopped the fighting, while India claims that it was an agreement between the two countries' militaries.
"President Trump demonstrated exceptional strategic acumen and excellent statesmanship through strong diplomatic engagement with Islamabad and New Delhi, preventing the escalation of a serious crisis," Pakistan said in a statement. "This intervention is a testament to his role as a true peacemaker."
Governments can nominate candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. So far, there has been no reaction from Washington, and an Indian government spokesman has not commented on Pakistan's proposal.
Trump has repeatedly said he is willing to mediate between India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, a major source of their hostility. Islamabad, which has long called on the international community to pay attention to the issue, is pleased with his stance.
However, Trump's position has disrupted previous US policy in South Asia, which favored India as a counterweight to China, and has called into question the close relationship between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a social media post on Friday, Trump listed a long list of conflicts he claims to have resolved, including the India-Pakistan dispute and the Abraham Accords from his first term, which linked Israel to several Muslim countries. He added: "I will not win the Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do."
Pakistan's move to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize comes after Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, met the US president for lunch this week. It was the first time a senior Pakistani military official had been invited to the White House while Islamabad is under civilian rule.
A planned meeting between Trump and Modi at the G7 summit in Canada last week fell through after Trump left the summit early, but the two leaders spoke by phone afterward. According to the Indian government, Modi said that "India has never accepted and will never accept mediation" in the conflict with Pakistan.
Mushahid Hussain, former chairman of the Defense Committee in the Pakistani Senate, said Trump's nomination was justified.
"Trump is good for Pakistan," he said. "If it flatters his ego, let him. All the European leaders have courted him enough already."
However, the decision did not meet with unanimous approval in Pakistan, where Trump's support for Israel's war in Gaza has sparked a backlash.
"A sponsor of Israeli violence in Gaza and a supporter of attacks on Iran is not a candidate for any award," wrote political analyst and presenter Talat Hussein on the X network. "What if in a few months he starts kissing Modi on both cheeks again?"
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