Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Desperately trying to salvage its image as a global pariah, Pakistan attempted to lure US President Donald Trump to visit Islamabad, only to end up with egg on its face. To rub salt in its wounds, Washington promptly added The Resistance Front (TRF), responsible for the April 22 massacre of Hindu-only tourists at Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, to the terrorist list.
Responding to Pakistani media outlets’ claims that Trump could visit Islamabad this year, the US State Department on Thursday added TRF as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
TRF, a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) front and proxy, had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack which killed 26 civilians, in what was the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks carried out by LeT. TRF also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Indian security forces, including most recently in 2024, the global media reported.
“These actions taken by the Department of State demonstrates the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting our national security interests, countering terrorism, and enforcing President Trump’s call for justice for the Pahalgam attack.”
“TRF and other associated aliases have been added to LeT’s designation as a FTO and SDGT pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224, respectively. The Department of State has also reviewed and maintained the FTO designation of LeT. Amendments to FTO designations go into effect upon publication in the Federal Register.”
Pakistan’s Army-controlled government and media had hoped to lure Trump after the US President hosted “Field Marshal” Asim Munir at the White House last month, to neutralize Islamabad when America attacked Iran’s nuclear assets. That limited objective achieved, Trump even ‘forgot’ the name of Pakistan’s Army chief!
Still believing that Washington and Islamabad had grown closer under Donald Trump, Pakistani media claimed that the US President will visit Islamabad in September to thank Pakistan for nominating the US President for the Nobel Peace Prize. The ‘development’ was reported by local television news channels in Pakistan on Thursday, citing sources. The media reports also claimed that after landing in Pakistan, Trump will visit India for the Quad Summit.
After the US trashed these reports, the Pakistani channels promptly withdrew their fake reports.
Earlier, Pakistani leading broadcaster Geo News, citing unnamed ministry officials, claimed that US President Trump is expected to arrive in the South Asian nation on September 18. ARY news channel also reported likewise.
However, both channels later withdrew their reports. “Geo News apologises to its viewers for airing the news without a verification,” it said. ARY said they took down the report as Pakistan’s foreign office said it was not aware of the visit.
After these reports, the White House cleared the air. It said no such visit was scheduled “at this time”.
“A trip to Pakistan has not been scheduled at this time,” a White House official was quoted as saying. A US embassy spokesperson in Islamabad told the news agency, “We have nothing to announce.”
Speaking to Pakistani daily Dawn on the reports, Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said: “We have no information about this matter.”
Pakistan Foreign Ministry sources called the reports about Trump’s trip “fake” as the US President is visiting the United Kingdom between September 17 and 19. “We have no information about any such visit. If there is any such thing, the Foreign Ministry will officially announce that,” a senior ministry official was quoted as saying.
Pakistan’s misplaced optimism arose when Trump said in June that he was “honoured” to meet Munir and the two discussed Iran, which the US President said Pakistan knew better than most. Trump said he had thanked the Pakistan Army chief for ‘ending’ the war with India, for which he also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Trump has repeatedly taken credit for brokering the ‘ceasefire’ between India and Pakistan after four days of conflict in May. But New Delhi has stood its ground that Operation Sindoor was only paused after the Pakistan Army’s Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) requested his Indian counterpart to halt cross-border firing and missile attacks that had decimated several terror training camps deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). India will resume its operation if Pakistan-based terrorists attacked again.
Responding to the April 22 massacre at Pahalgam, India on May 7 launched “precise” military strikes on nine terror sites inside Pakistan and PoK under the Operation Sindoor, triggering an exchange of heavy fire between the two neighbours for four straight days.
Despite New Delhi insisting that a ceasefire was reached between the two militaries, Trump claimed more than 20 times that he “stopped” the war between India and Pakistan and saved the world from a nuclear conflagration.
Islamabad has reiterated the US President’s claim and thanked him for his efforts.
To woo Trump, Pakistan also recommended Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his “decisive diplomatic intervention” and “pivotal leadership” in May, when India and Pakistan traded strikes.
During Munir’s visit to the US, the two sides discussed expanding bilateral trade, “economic development, mines and minerals, artificial intelligence, energy, cryptocurrency, and emerging technologies,” Dawn reported, citing the Pakistani military’s media wing. Ironically, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif or his ministers were nowhere in picture during this ‘diplomatic exercise.’
Cash-strapped Pakistan has even hired Keith Schiller, a former bodyguard of Trump, as its lobbyist in Washington, DC. Islamabad signed two contracts with Trump-linked lobbyists by paying USD 450,000 a month, reported The Guardian.
No US President has even cared to take a call from or return a call to any Pakistani PM since 2018. Former PM Imran Khan, in jail since 2023, publicly lamented this fact. If Trump does visit Islamabad, he would be the first US President to do so since George W Bush in 2006.
Trump is, of course, set to visit India for the Quad Summit this year, whose dates are yet to be finalized. According to the media reports, Pakistani business leaders and influencers are trying hard to press the White House for his ‘stopover’ in Islamabad before the India trip.