Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar seemed to shift his stance on the United States (US) move to designate The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
Dar said at an event in Washington, DC on Friday that Pakistan has “no issue” with the US designation; however, he reiterated that linking TRF with Lashkar-e-Taiba is “wrong.”
The Resistance Front – which India and the US believe is an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
The Pakistan minister said it is “obviously a sovereign decision” of the US to designate the TRF. “We have no issue. And we welcome, if they have any evidence, that they are involved,” he said.
“Linking the TRF to the Lashkar-e-Taiba is wrong. That outfit was dismantled years ago by Pakistan. The actors were prosecuted, arrested and jailed, and the entire outfit was destroyed,” said Dar.
“So, if it [TRF] is an independent entity…the US authorities have any evidence that they were involved [in Pahalgam attack], we have no objection to that,” Dar said.
“I can guarantee you that it is this TRF has nothing to do with the LeT, which has become defunct years ago,” he added.
This statement was seen as a significant shift from his previous position.
Earlier, Dar told Pakistan’s Parliament that Islamabad had blocked mention of the TRF in a UN Security Council Resolution which condemned the Pahalgam attacks.
“We opposed the mention of TRF in the UNSC statement. I got calls from global capitals, but Pakistan will not accept. TRF was deleted, and Pakistan prevailed,” said Dar was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying in April.
He reported added, “We don’t consider the TRF illegal. Show us proof they carried out the Pahalgam attack. Show ownership by the TRF. We won’t accept the allegation, and TRF had to be deleted from the UN press release.”
Ishaq Dar meets Marco Rubio
Earlier on Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar at the Department of State in Washington, DC.
Ishaq Dar said on Friday the United States and Pakistan were “very close” to a trade deal that could come within days, but comments from the US after Dar met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned no timeline.