Pakistan announced on Saturday its intention to formally recommend President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his pivotal role in de-escalating the recent conflict with India.

This move comes as Trump himself has frequently expressed a desire for the prestigious accolade.

Pakistan’s government lauded Trump’s “great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi,” which they credit with de-escalating a rapidly deteriorating situation between the two nuclear-armed rivals in May.

The announcement of a ceasefire, brokered by Trump, brought an abrupt end to a four-day conflict, with Pakistan emphasizing that this intervention “stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker.”

Some analysts in Pakistan suggest that this nomination could be a strategic gambit to influence Trump’s stance on the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

Pakistan has consistently condemned Israel’s actions as violations of international law and threats to regional stability. Indeed, a day after the nomination, Pakistan issued a strong condemnation of recent US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, stating grave concern about further escalation and reiterating Iran’s right to self-defense.

While Pakistan attributes the ceasefire to U.S. diplomatic intervention, India maintains that the cessation of hostilities was a bilateral agreement between the two militaries.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his willingness to mediate between India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region, a long-standing source of animosity. Islamabad, which has historically called for international attention to Kashmir, has welcomed Trump’s stance.

However, this position has notably altered traditional U.S. policy in South Asia, which has historically favored India as a strategic counterweight to China, and has cast a shadow over previously close relations between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Friday, Trump himself weighed in on the Nobel Peace Prize in a social media post, listing several conflicts he claimed to have resolved during his first term, including the India-Pakistan dispute and the Abraham Accords (normalization agreements between Israel and several Muslim-majority countries: the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco).

He concluded his post by lamenting, “I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do.” Governments are permitted to nominate individuals for the Nobel Peace Prize, though Washington has yet to issue an immediate response to Pakistan’s announcement, and India has not commented on the nomination.