Indonesia says it will withdraw from the Board of Peace if it does not benefit Palestinians
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has reassured local Islamic groups that he will withdraw from United States President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ if the platform does not benefit Palestinians, a government statement said on Friday.
The participation of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, on the board, and its decision to contribute troops for a Gaza stabilisation force, has drawn criticism from experts and Muslim groups at home, who say it compromises its long-standing support for the Palestinian cause.
Prabowo gathered the group’s leaders for a meeting on Thursday evening, where he reiterated his reasoning behind joining the board, according to a statement released by the government communication office.
Prabowo will withdraw from the board if it does not benefit the interests of Palestinians and Indonesians, the statement quoted Hanif Alatas of the Islamic Brotherhood Front as saying.
“The president said that if he sees that there is no longer any benefit for Palestine … and that it is not in line with Indonesia’s national interests, he will withdraw,” Hanif said in the statement.
The Indonesian Ulema Council, a leading clerical body, had previously called for Indonesia to exit the board due to the US role in the ongoing Iran war.
Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s largest Muslim group, said Indonesia’s government could use the board to encourage de-escalation in the Middle East.
“Indonesia could declare that the (board’s) agenda is on hold until there are talks on de-escalation and peace from the American-Israeli war against Iran,” its chief Yahya Cholil Staquf said in a statement issued by Prabowo’s office late on Thursday.
All Board of Peace discussions have been halted due to the war, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono has previously said.
Reference Link:- https://www.dawn.com/news/1979008
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
