Pakistan to nominate US President Trump for 2026 Nobel Peace Prize
Islamabad (PTI): The Pakistan government on Saturday said it has decided to formally recommend US President Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for his "decisive diplomatic intervention" during the recent India-Pakistan conflict.
The announcement came in a post on X, with the headline: “Government of Pakistan Recommends President Donald J Trump for 2026 Nobel Peace Prize”.
The announcement came three days after Trump hosted Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir at the White House.
"The Government of Pakistan has decided to formally recommend President Donald J Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership during the recent India-Pakistan crisis," the post said.
Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, with India carrying out precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7.
The on-ground hostilities from the Indian and Pakistan sides that lasted for four days ended with an understanding of stopping the military actions following talks between the directors general of military operations of both sides on May 10.
Trump has been persistently claiming that he stopped a war between India and Pakistan. New Delhi has been maintaining that India's fierce counter-attack that day forced Pakistan to plead for ending the hostilities.
The Pakistan government's post on Saturday said that “at a moment of heightened regional turbulence”, President Trump “demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi”.
It further stated that the US president “de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation, ultimately securing a ceasefire and averting a broader conflict between the two nuclear states that would have had catastrophic consequences for millions of people in the region and beyond”.
“This intervention stands as a testament to his [Trump’s] role as a genuine peacemaker and his commitment to conflict resolution through dialogue,” it read.
The government also acknowledged President Trump’s “sincere offers” to help resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
The government noted that President Trump’s leadership during the 2025 Pakistan-India crisis “manifestly showcases the continuation of his legacy of pragmatic diplomacy and effective peace-building”.
Pakistan remains hopeful that Trump’s “earnest efforts” will continue to contribute towards regional and global stability, particularly in the context of ongoing crises in West Asia, including the humanitarian tragedy unfolding in Gaza and the deteriorating escalation involving Iran, the post said.
Trump, meanwhile, bemoaned that he won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for "stopping" the war between India and Pakistan or for his efforts in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Iran conflicts.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
