India seeks UN listing of TRF as terror outfit for role in Pahalgam attack

New Delhi: An Indian delegation met top UN counter-terrorism officials on Wednesday to push for the designation of The Resistance Front (TRF)—a proxy of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—as a UN-listed terrorist organisation, following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people and injured several others. 

The delegation, including senior intelligence officials, was at the UN headquarters in New York to present evidence linking TRF to the April 22 attack and other terror activities.

During meetings with Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and Assistant Secretary-General Natalia Gherman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the two sides discussed expanding cooperation. The UNOCT readout said discussions focused on implementing key Security Council counter-terrorism resolutions and the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

Voronkov and Gherman also expressed condolences for the victims of the Pahalgam attack.

The Indian delegation also met with the 1267 Sanctions Committee's monitoring team, which oversees global terror sanctions, to submit dossiers detailing TRF’s operations. The 1267 Committee enforces sanctions under a UN Security Council resolution that targets ISIS, al-Qaeda, and associated entities and individuals.

India is also lobbying member states to support listing TRF under the sanctions regime, which would mandate asset freezes and travel bans.

Let, sanctioned in 2005, operates under 27 aliases, including Pasban-e-Kashmir and Jamaat-ud-Dawa variants. Key individuals such as LeT chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed and affiliates like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen are also under UN sanctions, which include asset freezes and international travel bans.

UNOCT also highlighted key areas of India-UN collaboration, including cybersecurity, countering terrorist travel, financing of terrorism, and support for terror victims. The delegation and UN officials further discussed threats posed by emerging technologies, such as drones and financial tech, being exploited for terrorism.

These priorities align with the 2022 Delhi Declaration adopted by the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee under India’s chairmanship. The declaration called for global frameworks to counter drone-based threats and regulate new financial technologies used by terror groups.
(With PTI & IANS inputs)