New Delhi: While the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Indian-origin South African jurist Navi Pillay, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif used the occasion to renew his campaign for US President Donald Trump to receive the prestigious honour.
Sharif took to social media to credit Trump with playing a historic role in easing tensions during the four-day India-Pakistan military confrontation in May 2025. Islamabad had previously endorsed Trump for the Nobel candidature in June 2025, with leadership in Pakistan consistently praising his purported intervention, despite New Delhi maintaining that the ceasefire was arranged directly through military channels between the two neighbouring nations without any American mediation.
The renewed endorsement follows Trump's long-standing ambitions regarding the award and his ongoing frustration over missing out on the prize. Although Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado attempted to hand over her Nobel medal to Trump earlier, the Nobel authorities clarified that the official title of laureate remains strictly non-transferable.
The official 2026 prize ultimately went to 85-year-old Navanethem Navi Pillay, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and international judge of Tamil origin from South Africa. The Norwegian Nobel Committee honoured her extensive career dedicated to international justice and the rule of law, leaving Trump's aspirations for the prize unfulfilled as Islamabad continued its diplomatic outreach.