US declares TRF a global terror group: How Pakistan’s Ishaq Dar tried to shield the Lashkar proxy at UNSC

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar - File Photo

In a major diplomatic win for India and a stinging rebuke to Pakistan, the United States has formally designated The Resistance Front (TRF) as both a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). TRF, a known proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), had claimed responsibility for the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 civilians dead – the deadliest attack on Indian soil since the 2008 Mumbai massacre.

But even as TRF publicly boasted of its hand in the Pahalgam carnage, Pakistan’s leadership scrambled to protect the group. According to sources quoted by News18, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar personally intervened at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to remove any mention of TRF from the Council’s condemnation statement, effectively trying to whitewash the group’s role despite its own admission of guilt.

This brazen shielding of a terror outfit exposes Islamabad’s long-running policy of denial, deception, and diversion. Pakistan continues to claim it had no role in the Pahalgam attack, just as it did after Pulwama (2019), Uri (2016), and the Mumbai attacks (2008) – all of which were carried out by Pakistani terrorists or groups backed by its military-intelligence complex.

TRF: Lashkar’s new mask, same old terror

The Resistance Front was created in 2019 as a facade to detach LeT’s overt Islamist identity from its terror operations, especially after mounting international scrutiny. Since then, TRF has become Lashkar’s key tool to target India while maintaining Pakistan’s “plausible deniability”.

By designating TRF under Section 219 of the US Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224, Washington has struck at the heart of this smokescreen. The US State Department has also reaffirmed the terror designation of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which remains one of the most lethal anti-India groups with deep roots in Pakistan.

India’s evidence, America’s action: How the tag was secured

Sources told News18 that India submitted concrete intelligence and actionable evidence directly linking TRF to the Pahalgam attack and exposing its leadership structure. Unlike the often-politicised processes at the UNSC, where China frequently blocks designations on Pakistan-backed terrorists, the US mechanism is more technical, data-driven, and independent of geopolitical manipulation.

The material provided by New Delhi met the United States’ strict evidentiary thresholds, which require credible links to terror acts, organisational ties to listed groups like LeT, and proof of intent and capability to conduct international terrorism.

Why the US terror designation matters

The terror tag carries significant operational and diplomatic weight. It freezes TRF’s financial assets, blocks any US-linked transactions, and makes support to the group a criminal offense. More crucially, it reinforces India’s case globally that TRF is not a local Kashmiri “resistance” group but a Pakistan-exported terror outfit.

India is now likely to use the US designation as leverage in pushing for Pakistan’s re-listing on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, citing Islamabad’s failure to curb terror financing and cross-border proxies. TRF’s listing also makes it harder for Pakistan to maintain its facade of fighting terrorism while grooming new avatars of LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).