India hails listing of TRF by US as affirmation of counter-terror cooperation
India hails listing of TRF by US as affirmation of counter-terror cooperation
M.U.H
18/07/202529
New Delhi: India on Friday hailed the designation of The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy for Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba responsible for the Pahalgam attack, as a global terrorist organisation by the US as a “strong affirmation” of bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar conveyed his appreciation to his American counterpart Marco Rubio and the US state department for designating TRF as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), while the external affairs ministry described the move as a “timely and important” step reflecting the deep counter-terror cooperation between the two sides.
“A strong affirmation of India-US counter-terrorism cooperation,” Jaishankar said on social media. “It [TRF] claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack. Zero tolerance for Terrorism.”
India’s reaction came hours after the US state department announced the listing of the TRF as a terrorist organisation, citing its claim of responsibility for the Pahalgam attack on April 22 that killed 26 civilians. “This was the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks conducted by LeT,” Rubio said in a statement.
A readout from the external affairs ministry acknowledged Rubio’s leadership in this regard and emphasised India’s call for global cooperation in the fight against terror and for dismantling terror infrastructure.
“The designation of TRF is a timely and important step reflecting the deep cooperation between India and the United States on counter-terrorism,” the readout said. “India remains committed to a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism and will continue to work closely with its international partners to ensure that terrorist organisations and their proxies are held accountable.”
Both India and the US noted that TRF has been involved in numerous terror-related activities, besides the Pahalgam attack, for which it twice claimed responsibility. The US state department noted that TRF had also claimed responsibility for several attacks on Indian security forces, including most recently in 2024.
Rubio noted that the actions taken by the US state department demonstrate the Trump administration’s commitment to “protecting our national security interests, countering terrorism, and enforcing President Trump’s call for justice for the Pahalgam attack”.
TRF and other aliases of the group – Kashmir Resistance Front and Kashmir Resistance – were added to designation of the LeT as a foreign terrorist organisation under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224. The US state department also reviewed and maintained the designation of the LeT.
Days after the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar had spoken in the Senate or upper house of Parliament about Islamabad removing a reference to TRF in a press statement issued by the UN Security Council to condemn the incident.
The statement, issued on April 25, had condemned the Pahalgam attack and underlined the need to hold its perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors accountable and bring them to justice.
However, Dar claimed in Parliament on April 30 that Pakistan, currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, had objected to a reference to TRF in the original statement proposed by the US. He claimed TRF was formed in Jammu and Kashmir as a response to the scrapping of the region’s special status by the Indian government in August 2019.
Dar said this was “not acceptable” to Pakistan and had sought evidence of TRF’s involvement in the attack. He added that he told the members of the security council that they have to “delete this TRF” from the statement.
