New Delhi : The government on Friday welcomed the US administration’s decision to designate the Pakistan-based outfit, The Resistance Front, which was behind the Pahalgam terror attack, as a terrorist group. India has consistently emphasised the need for global cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the dismantling of 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 Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also called it a strong affirmation of India-US counter-terrorism cooperation. Appreciate State Secretary Marco Rubio and the State Department for designating TRF—a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) proxy—as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). It claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack. Zero tolerance for Terrorism (sic), he tweeted. On Thursday, the Donald Trump administration designated The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as a foreign terrorist organisation.
Reacting to the development, the Indian Embassy in Washington said this shows how strong the India-US counter-terrorism cooperation is. In the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were killed when gunmen opened fire after asking the victims about their religious identity. The Resistance Front, also known as Kashmir Resistance, initially claimed responsibility for the attack but denied involvement days later, as tensions escalated between India and Pakistan. India launched a series of retaliatory measures against Pakistan over Islamabad’s open support for cross-border terrorism. In response to the Pahalgam attack, India carried out Operation Sindoor early on May 7, targeting nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
This led to a dramatic military escalation between the neighbours, including border attacks and India targeting Pakistani bases, which eventually subsided following a deal to end cross-border firing. Later in May, seven multi-party delegations from India visited 33 global capitals, including Washington, to engage with the international community and highlight Pakistan’s links to terrorism.
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