Another win for Indian diplomacy: Trump admin imposes sanctions against Pahalgam perpetrators TRF after Jaishankar's US visit

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar hailed the United States's decision categorizing Pahalgam terror attack perpetrators, The Resistance Front, as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.  Jaishankar said the move reflected strong ties between India and the US in countering terrorism.

 

The US Department of State on Friday designated The Resistance Front, a proxy of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) cosidering its role in the Pahalgam terror attack. 

 

"TRF, a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) front and proxy, claimed responsibility for the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack which killed 26 civilians. This was the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks conducted by LeT. TRF has also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Indian security forces, including most recently in 2024," the US State Department said in a statement.

 

"These actions taken by the Department of State 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," it added.

 

Union Minister Jaishankar, appreciating the move, said it affirmed strong ties between the US and India. "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 Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). It claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack. Zero tolerance for Terrorism," he said in a post on X.

 

Terrorists with alleged Pakistani links killed 26 people in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22. The deceased include 24 tourists, a Nepali citizen and a local horse rider. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 to avenge the killings. Both nations later agreed to stop firing following DGMO-level talks. 

 

The move by the United States comes after India's global diplomatic campaign against Pakistan in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor. Jaishankar had visited the US earlier this month to attend the QUAD meeting. 

India