India on Friday welcomed the United States’ decision to officially designate The Resistance Front (TRF)—a known proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)—as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under U.S. anti-terrorism laws.
The announcement comes in the aftermath of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, where 26 civilians were killed in one of the deadliest assaults on Indian soil since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called the move a “strong affirmation of India-US counter-terrorism cooperation.”
“Appreciate SecRubio and @StateDept 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,” Jaishankar posted on X.
According to a statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the TRF’s designation follows clear evidence of its direct involvement in the Pahalgam attack and repeated assaults on Indian security forces in recent years, including incidents in 2024.
“These actions taken by the Department of State demonstrate the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting national security, countering terrorism, and enforcing President Trump’s call for justice for the Pahalgam attack,” Rubio stated.
The US has now formally added TRF and its aliases to the existing LeT terror designation under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224. The amended FTO designation will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register.
The Indian Embassy in Washington DC also hailed the designation: “Another demonstration of strong India-USA counter-terrorism cooperation. TRF is a proxy of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and claimed responsibility for the April 22 terror attack on civilians in Pahalgam. ZERO TOLERANCE for terrorism!”
Earlier this week, speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Tianjin, Jaishankar reiterated India’s uncompromising stance on terrorism and called out the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism, and extremism, stressing their often interlinked nature.
The US decision is being viewed as a major diplomatic win for India in rallying international consensus against Pakistan-backed terror outfits operating in the region.
