​A long list: on the U.S., designation of The Resistance Front group   

The decision of the U.S. to designate The Resistance Front (TRF) group that claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist is a development that should undergird the global fight against terror. The Ministry of External Affairs has called it “a timely and important step”. For one, the U.S. State Department has acknowledged the severity of the Pahalgam attack. It also names the TRF as a “front and proxy” for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which Pakistan claims it has rendered “defunct”. Even though the U.S. added groups such as the LeT and the Jaish-e-Mohammad to its FTO list in 2001, they have masterminded attacks in India since then. The U.S. has also partially made amends for the TRF’s name having been kept out of the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution condemning the Pahalgam attack, apparently at Pakistan’s behest, but with the concurrence of the U.S. and other P-5 members. It is hoped that the designation will now help India’s case in designating the TRF at the UNSC, under the 1267 Committee for sanctions, also strengthening the trans-national legal pursuit of those behind the attack.

While this is a positive step, it is necessary to put the Trump’s administration’s other actions since the Pahalgam attack into perspective. After India launched Operation Sindoor, the U.S. has countered India’s narrative on the four-day conflict on several occasions. Mr. Trump, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have repeatedly made the claim that the U.S. negotiated the India-Pakistan ceasefire, and averted a nuclear conflict by using trade ties as leverage — an equivalence which Pakistan has been happy to endorse. Mr. Trump’s unprecedented White House lunch and praise for the Pakistan military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, came hours after the government had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cleared the picture with Mr. Trump, and brings into question just how much pressure the U.S. is willing to put on Pakistan to act against terrorism. The Trump administration had held out the promise of doing more to support India in its fight against terrorism by fast-tracking the extradition, in April, of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was wanted by India for the 2008 Mumbai attacks. It is hoped that the TRF’s listing means that the U.S. is recommitting to that objective. Given that the real challenge lies more in credibly ending Pakistan’s support to these groups, New Delhi must focus on its efforts, diplomatic as well as legal, to ensure justice for the victims and to prevent further terrorist acts.