Pakistan Govt, Deputy PM Ishaq Dar Openly Support Lashkar And TRF: Sources | Exclusive

Last Updated:July 19, 2025, 00:39 IST

Ishaq Dar later publicly confirmed his role in having TRF’s name struck from the final UNSC statement

Pakistan deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar sought to frame the Pahalgam attack not as a terrorist act, but rather as a 'reaction to state repression in Kashmir'. (File pic/Reuters)

Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, is being accused of actively enabling terrorism through diplomatic means, particularly in the aftermath of the devastating April 22 Pahalgam massacre in Jammu and Kashmir. Despite The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), publicly claiming responsibility for the attack and compelling forensic links tying it to LeT, Dar’s actions at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) aimed to shield the terror outfit from international condemnation, top Indian government sources told CNN-News18.

Dar’s alleged support for Lashkar and TRF was strikingly visible even after the Pahalgam attack. He personally intervened during the UNSC closed-door session on the incident, reportedly demanding the removal of TRF from the draft statement condemning the attack. His primary contention was a claimed “lack of verified attribution", a stance that directly contradicted TRF’s own public claim of responsibility and intelligence confirmation from both Indian and US agencies linking the group to LeT’s infrastructure.

Furthermore, the sources said Dar pushed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members and other China-friendly nations within the Security Council to block any reference to LeT proxies in the statement. He sought to frame the Pahalgam attack not as a terrorist act, but rather as a “reaction to state repression in Kashmir", thereby attempting to legitimise terrorist violence in India as “indigenous resistance". This diplomatic manoeuvre was aimed at forcing the world to ignore the compelling digital and human intelligence linking the group to Lashkar’s extensive infrastructure, said the sources.

Ultimately, with Pakistan’s active lobbying and support, the UNSC’s initial draft condemnation, which had named TRF, was altered. Ishaq Dar later publicly confirmed his role in having TRF’s name struck from the final UNSC statement, a candid admission that underscored deliberate diplomatic interference to shield a designated terror proxy. He even circulated a classified diplomatic note to over a dozen states, arguing that naming TRF would “politicise the Council".

Critics say that Dar’s actions provided not just ideological cover and diplomatic protection but also facilitated sanction evasion for TRF, thereby enabling its continued recruitment, fundraising, and the execution of further attacks, such as the 2024 Z-Morh Tunnel ambush.

Manoj Gupta

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

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News world Pakistan Govt, Deputy PM Ishaq Dar Openly Support Lashkar And TRF: Indian Govt Sources | Exclusive