After U.S. labels The Resistance Front as global terror outfit, China calls for stronger regional anti-terror cooperation

China on Friday (July 18, 2025) called on regional countries to enhance counter terrorism cooperation to safeguard regional security, in a guarded reaction to the U.S. designating The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), as a foreign terrorist organisation for its involvement in the Pahalgam terror attack.

“China firmly opposes all forms of terrorism and strongly condemns the terrorist attack that occurred on April 22,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing here on Friday (July 18, 2025) when asked about the U.S. State Department’s statement designating TRF as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.

“China calls on regional countries to enhance counterterrorism cooperation and jointly maintain regional security and stability,” he said.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier said the Department of State is designating the TRF as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).

The U.S. designation of TRF was expected to have its echo in the U.N. Security Council, especially the 1267 Committee of the UNSC, an important counter terrorism mechanism that designates terrorists and their organisations.

Several Pakistani terrorist groups and individuals are listed under the UN Security Council’s 1267 sanctions regime, which imposes asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes. These include LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), along with key figures like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar.

Highlighting the importance of the U.S. designation of TRF as a terrorist group, Pakistan’s daily Dawn said in its report that Thursday’s statement from the State Department seemed to echo India’s viewpoint, which has claimed that the little-known newly-formed group was actually a “front and proxy” of the banned LeT.

Twenty-six people were killed in the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. The TRF claimed responsibility for the attack, but later backtracked as tensions soared between India and Pakistan.