Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the first meeting of US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace in Washington today (Thursday).

In addition to eight Muslim countries, several other nations will participate in the meeting to be chaired by Trump. PM Shehbaz will attend the session along with a delegation that also includes Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as the country’s foreign minister.

The discussions at the meeting will focus on the reconstruction of Gaza, strengthening the ceasefire, and fulfilling funding commitments.

Before Pakistan commits to sending troops to Gaza as part of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) it wants assurances ?from the United States that the mission will be for peacekeeping rather than disarming Hamas, three sources told Reuters.

Trump is ?expected to announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a UN-authorised stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave.

Three government sources said during the Washington visit Sharif wanted to better understand the goal of the ISF, what authority they were operating under and what the chain of command was before making a decision on deploying troops.

“We are ready ?to send troops. Let me make it clear that our troops could only be part of a peace mission in Gaza,” said one of the sources, a close aide of PM Shehbaz.

“We will not be part of any other role, such as disarming Hamas. It is out of the question,” he said. Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not respond to a Reuters request ?for a comment.

Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan calls for a force from Muslim nations to oversee a transition period for reconstruction and economic recovery in the devastated Palestinian territory, and Washington has been pressing Islamabad to join.

Analysts say Pakistan would be an asset to the multinational force, with its experienced military that has gone to war with arch-rival India and tackled insurgencies.

“We can send initially a couple of thousand troops anytime, but we need to know what role they are going to play,” the source added.

Two of the sources said it was likely the PM, who has met Trump earlier this year in Davos and late last year at the White House, would either have an audience with him on the sidelines of the meeting or the following day at the White House.

Initially designed to cement Gaza’s ceasefire, Trump sees the Board of Peace, launched in late January, taking a wider role in resolving global conflicts. Some countries have reacted cautiously, fearing it could become a rival to the United Nations.

While Pakistan has supported the establishment of the board, it has voiced concerns against the mission to demilitarise Hamas.

Analysts say Islamabad will need to strike a balance between pleasing Trump by providing troops and any potential domestic fallout in a predominantly Muslim nation.

Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the United States, said the Pakistani public supported sending troops to Gaza only to help protect Palestinians.

“If developments in Gaza after the deployment do not improve the position of Palestinians, there could be a massive reaction at the ?public level in Pakistan,” said Haqqani, currently a scholar at the Hudson Institute in Washington.

(WITH INPUT FROM REUTERS)