India hails US move to designate TRF as global terrorist group

India welcomed the U.S. designation of The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, as a global terrorist group. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar praised U.S. action, linking it to the deadly Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians

New Delhi: India on Friday welcomed the US move to designate The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that was behind the Pahalgam attack, as a global terrorist organisation.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar described Washington’s decision on The Resistance Front (TRF) as a “strong affirmation” of India-US counter-terrorism cooperation. In a social media post, he specially complimented US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for designating the proxy of Pakistan-based LeT.

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“Appreciate @SecRubio and @StateDept for designating TRF – a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) proxy – as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). It claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack,” the external affairs minister said.

Earlier, the US State Department said it is adding TRF as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The US State Department also noted that the TRF claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack which killed 26 civilians.

“This was the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks conducted by LeT,” it said. “TRF has also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Indian security forces, including most recently in 2024,” it said.

“TRF and other associated aliases have been added to LeT’s designation as a FTO and SDGT pursuant to Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224, respectively. The Department of State has also reviewed and maintained the FTO designation of LeT,” Rubio said.

The State Department said its actions demonstrates 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”.