Outreach after 26/11 attacks got JuD tagged as terror outfit, now TRF on India’s target list
As a 59-member delegation prepares to mount a global offensive against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, a recall of the last similar exercise after the Mumbai terror attacks reveals that the stated national objective vis-à-vis the western neighbour was almost the same as today.
Following the November 26, 2008, Mumbai attacks, Parliament had passed a resolution saying India will not stop efforts to expose Pakistan globally until the country ceased to be a sanctuary for terrorists. Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had, instead of choosing military action against Pakistan, opted for a diplomatic offensive, which resulted in some critical outcomes.
First, the listing by the UN Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee of individual entities based in Pakistan, including Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) leaders, under the Security Council Resolution 1267. Second, the listing of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) as an alias of the LeT, which was directly involved in the Mumbai attacks.
After these diplomatic outcomes, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee made a detailed statement in Parliament on February 13, 2009. Titled, “Follow-up to Mumbai terror attack", the statement read: “The government has constantly been guided by two objectives of ensuring that the perpetrators who planned, organised and trained the terrorists in Pakistan are brought to justice, and that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan is dismantled to prevent a recurrence of such attacks…. The onus of responsibility to eliminate these threats rests on the Pakistan government."
The statement made 17 years ago held true even today as India readies to launch another diplomatic outreach to isolate an incorrigible neighbour, said an official.
While the principal outcome of the post-2008 attack exercise was the listing of key terrorists, including LeT’s Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, by the UNSC panel, the desired outcome of the current exercise is to get The Resistance Front (TRF) listed as an alias of the LeT.
Lakhvi was listed on December 10, 2008, pursuant as being associated with the Lashkar and Al-Qaida for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts of activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of” both entities. All individuals and entities listed under the 1267 Al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UNSC are subject to asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
The same outcome is now desired for the TRF, which had twice claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack before it retracted under Pakistan’s pressure.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri recently said India gave inputs about TRF to the UN sanctions committee in May and November 2024, revealing its role as a cover for Pakistan-based terrorist groups. In December 2023 also, India had informed the committee about the LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed operating groups like TRF.
India has also described as notable Pakistan’s efforts to get TRF references dropped from the April 25 UNSC press statement after the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. An Indian team has already met the UNSC panel to present this case.
The upcoming political delegation visit seeks to further cement the official line that “Pakistan is a global terror exporter”. The delegation will also question loans being extended to Pakistan by multilateral agencies like the IMF and will highlight Pakistan’s pledge to rebuild complexes like in Muridke that were destroyed in Indian strikes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently described LeT headquarters in Muridke and JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur as “universities of global terrorism”. Both these terror hubs in Pakistan were destroyed in Operation Sindoor.
India