The Imagindia Institute, a leading Indian foreign affairs think tank, announced today that it will nominate President Donald J. Trump for the Gandhi Peace Prize if he successfully facilitates a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand at the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025.
According to regional diplomatic sources, President Trump is expected to meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on the sidelines of the summit, where a bilateral peace framework is reportedly under negotiation. The proposed accord would address long-standing border and temple disputes, expand economic cooperation, and promote cross-border demilitarization.
A Historic Opportunity for Asian Peace
“If President Trump succeeds in bringing lasting peace between Cambodia and Thailand, it would stand as one of the most consequential acts of peace diplomacy in Asia in the early decades of the twenty-first century,” said Robinder Sachdev, President of the Imagindia Institute.
“Thailand and Cambodia are civilizational siblings of India — part of a shared cultural geography bound through millennia of faith, temples, teachers, and the pursuit of balance and the Middle Path, both in life and in the conduct of relations among nations. A lasting peace between them would not only secure harmony along their borders but also expand the very geography of coexistence in Asia. Their reconciliation, grounded in the spirit of live and let live and achieved through dialogue, would rekindle Asia’s timeless ideal — where wisdom tempers power, balance transcends rivalry, and compassion once again guides the art of statecraft.
We are also proposing the creation of a ‘Garden of Peace’ to commemorate this accord — a living symbol of reconciliation, renewal, and the enduring spirit of Asian harmony.”
The Garden of Peace – Dangrek Mountains
The proposed Garden of Peace would be located in the neutral buffer area adjoining the Preah Vihear Temple, between Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Province and Thailand’s Sisaket Province along the Dangrek Mountains ridge.
The Preah Vihear complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, embodies the shared Hindu-Buddhist heritage of the region. Its iconography, architecture, and inscriptions reflect a spiritual continuum that flows from India through Angkor to Siam. Venerated by both nations, it stands as an ideal physical and civilizational site for a memorial that transforms a former zone of tension into a sanctuary of trust.
Imagindia’s concept for the “Garden of Peace – Dangrek Mountains” envisions a jointly created landscaped sanctuary overlooking the temple, with twin Cambodian and Thai pavilions joined by a lotus-lined bridge and inscribed verses on peace, coexistence, and the Middle Path. Supported by India and ASEAN, the initiative would serve as a living testament that ancient civilizations can resolve modern conflicts through dialogue, shared heritage, and the wisdom of balance — reaffirming that peace, like civilization itself, must be continually cultivated.
Conditional Nomination for a New Era of Diplomacy
The Gandhi Peace Prize, instituted by the Government of India in 1995, honors individuals and institutions that advance peace, non-violence, and humanitarian service. Past laureates include Nelson Mandela, Baba Amte of India, Yohei Sasakawa of Japan, Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, Dr. Julius K. Nyerere of Tanzania, and Gerhard Fischer of Germany—all honored for advancing peace, compassion, and humanitarian service in the Gandhian spirit.
Mr. Sachdev emphasized that the initiative is non-political and conditional, depending entirely on the successful signing of a verifiable peace accord. “If the Kuala Lumpur meeting results in a signed agreement, India and the world should recognize that peace can emerge even from disruption when leadership channels power toward dialogue. That, in essence, is the Gandhian spirit,” he said.
Upon the signing of the accord, Imagindia will submit a formal nomination to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, accompanied by a policy brief outlining the Cambodia–Thailand peace process and its alignment with Gandhian principles of non-violence, coexistence, and civilizational harmony.
About: The Imagindia Institute is an independent, non-partisan think tank dedicated to research, dialogue, and initiatives in public diplomacy, world affairs, civilizational thought, and creative thinking for problem-solving and futurism across cultures.
