External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday welcomed the United States' move to designate The Resistance Front (TRF), a Pakistan-based proxy of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), as a "Foreign Terrorist Organisation." The group had claimed responsibility for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam. Calling it a strong signal of growing India-US cooperation on counter-terrorism, Jaishankar thanked US Secretary Marco Rubio and the State Department for the designation. In a post on X, he wrote, “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)... Zero tolerance for terrorism.”

In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that TRF, a known front of LeT, was held responsible for the deadly April 22 attack in the Jammu and Kashmir tourist town of Pahalgam, which killed 26 civilians and triggered a four-day military standoff between India and Pakistan. He said the decision to label TRF as an FTO and SDGT reinforces the US commitment to combating terrorism globally and securing national interests.

The attack was described as the deadliest civilian assault in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, also carried out by LeT. The US State Department also noted TRF's involvement in multiple attacks on Indian security forces, including recent incidents in 2024. TRF and its aliases have now been officially added to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba’s designation under Section 219 of the US Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224. The updated designation will be published in the Federal Register.

The Indian Embassy in Washington praised the move as another sign of robust India-US anti-terror cooperation and reiterated that TRF is a LeT proxy responsible for the Pahalgam attack. Earlier this week, Jaishankar, addressing the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Tianjin, had called for an uncompromising stance against terrorism, citing the Pahalgam incident and warning of the growing threats posed by terrorism, separatism, and extremism — which he said often go hand in hand.