The Peacemaker

Air Cmde T.K. Chatterjee (retd)

Historically, many wars around the world have been ended through third-party efforts. For example, during the Korean War (1950–1953), the ceasefire that ended active fighting was mediated by third-party nations and the United Nations (UN). India played an important role by proposing an armistice plan, which the UN and opposing forces eventually accepted. This led to the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement in July 1953, which established the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.

Similarly, during the Vietnam War (1955–1975), various third-party actors, including Pope Paul VI and diplomats from France, tried to mediate ceasefires and peace agreements. The most notable outcome was the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, brokered through extensive diplomatic efforts, resulting in a ceasefire signed by all parties.

More recently, Qatar has served as a third-party mediator. Since 1999, Qatar has hosted and signed numerous peace agreements, especially related to Sudan and the Darfur conflict. Its role has included leading multilateral negotiations and hosting conferences that resulted in agreements such as the 2020 Juba Agreement for Sudan.

The course of the Ukraine war is heading down the third-party mediation path. The US mediation in the Ukraine war is leaving more questions than answers. The foremost of them is whether the current political dispensation of the US is trying to end the war in the interest of peace and global stability, or is it the personal goal of the President of the United States (POTUS) to be seen as the peacemaker, which can take him a step closer to the Nobel Peace Prize? Indications are that it is more of the second, since the first meeting in Alaska took place without achieving anything, except, of course, President Vladimir Putin validating the authenticity of Donald Trump’s claim to the coveted award. Be that as it may, it must be agreed that more has happened in a few weeks than in the last three years of the war. Nobody will grudge President Trump a Nobel if he indeed pulls off a peace deal, not just a ceasefire.

In an article published in the Financial Express in November 2024, I wrote that the Ukraine war would eventually come to a stop. I predicted that ‘the frontline of the war will be frozen at it