Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has acknowledged that his country was responsible for omitting the name of the terrorist group, The Resistance Front (TRF), from a United Nations Security Council statement that denounced the Pahalgam attack. Addressing the National Assembly of Pakistan on Tuesday, Dar stated, “We opposed the mention of TRF at the UNSC statement condemning the Pahalgam terror attack. I got calls from global capitals, but Pakistan will not accept. TRF was deleted, & Pakistan prevailed.”

On the day of the attack, April 22, the Resistance Front (TRF), believed to be linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, allegedly took responsibility for the deadly assault that claimed 26 lives. However, a few days later, the group reversed its statement and denied any role in the Pahalgam attack.

Dar said, “On behalf of Pakistan, I had two objections [to the statement]. First, only Pahalgam was mentioned, and secondly, the blame was put on The Resistance Forum. I thought this was not acceptable. You have to write Jammu and Kashmir along with Pahalgam.” During his address at the Assembly, the foreign minister repeatedly referred to TRF using a different name. Meanwhile, the UNSC, in its statement on the attack, neither mentioned Pahalgam nor identified any terror group, as it “condemned the act in the strongest terms.”

The minister argued that TRF is merely a local "forum" and dismissed labelling it as a terrorist organisation. He said the group came into existence after Article 370 was revoked in 2019. Dar added that without concrete proof, TRF shouldn't be singled out in official statements. He also denied media claims that the group had admitted to carrying out the recent violent attack. Dar explained that it took two and a half days to conclude the statement because Pakistan disagreed with the initial draft. "I received phone calls from big capitals to come to a consensus on the draft, but I told them nothing doing," he stated.