Front row for some, side glance for Pakistan: Shehbaz Sharif’s awkward day at Trump’s Board of Peace meet | WATCH

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif was sidelined at Trump’s Board of Peace meeting, reflecting Islamabad’s diminished influence. Pakistan’s reluctance to commit troops for Gaza further marginalized its role, despite Trump’s verbal praise offering little strategic validation.

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Washington was meant to be a stage for Pakistan’s return to global relevance. Instead, it turned into an awkward reminder of how peripheral Islamabad has become. At US President Donald Trump’s high-profile Board of Peace meeting on Thursday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appeared visibly sidelined, both literally and diplomatically.

While leaders from dozens of countries were showcased as part of Trump’s ambitious new peace architecture, Sharif cut a lonely figure, prompting diplomatic sources to describe the Pakistani delegation as uncomfortable and marginalised. CNN-News18 has learnt that despite Pakistan’s formal invitation, Islamabad struggled to project either influence or clarity, especially on the one issue that truly mattered to Washington, Gaza.

Sidelined at the photo op

According to a top diplomatic source cited by CNN-News18, Sharif was denied a central spot during the official group photograph, a small but telling detail in diplomatic optics. While Trump stood front and centre alongside Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, leaders from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Qatar were positioned directly behind the US President. Sharif, by contrast, was pushed to the margins.

The source described Sharif’s demeanour as “weird” and uneasy, reflecting a delegation unsure of where Pakistan stood in Trump’s grand design.

BACK OF THE "PAK"! At the first formal meeting of the Gaza Board of Peace in Washington, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif looks like an extra not a central player. pic.twitter.com/2ZgpeikZGj

— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) February 19, 2026

Gaza question exposes Pakistan’s dilemma

The discomfort was not just about optics. A major source of friction remains Pakistan’s lack of a clear position on Gaza. The Board of Peace expects member states to contribute thousands of personnel to an international stabilisation and policing force. Despite earlier signals of willingness, Pakistan is now “reluctant to deploy troops," the source said.

That hesitation has consequences. When Trump publicly listed countries expected to contribute forces, including Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Egypt and Jordan, Pakistan was conspicuously absent. The omission reinforced the perception that Islamabad talks more than it commits.

Trump’s praise, Pakistan’s consolation prize

If Sharif felt sidelined, Trump later offered some verbal balm. Addressing the meeting, the US President praised the Pakistani Prime Minister and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.

“I like this guy,” Trump said of Sharif, while recalling last year’s India-Pakistan crisis. Turning to Munir, Trump added, “Prime Minister Sharif, I like this man. There was some firing going on when I got to know him and your Field Marshal Asim Munir, he is a great guy.”

Trump then quoted Munir as saying, “Do you know nobody knows but I believe that President Trump saved 25 millions lives when he stopped the war between us and India.”

For Pakistan, the praise sounded less like strategic validation and more like polite reassurance.

What the Board of Peace represents

The Board of Peace is Trump’s attempt to create an alternative global mechanism for managing conflicts, beginning with Gaza. Comprising more than 40 countries and several observers, the board has secured around $5 billion for reconstruction, far short of the estimated $70 billion needed.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the board is “not talking, it is doing”, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended it as a “legitimate organisation” with a “bold and ambitious” vision.

For Pakistan, however, the meeting highlighted an uncomfortable truth. Without a clear agenda or willingness to act, Islamabad risks remaining present in name but irrelevant in practice.