Trump Rewards Pakistan Army Chief’s Nuclear Threats To India By Listing Baloch Groups As Terror Outfits

The US State Department has officially designated the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its alias, The Majeed Brigade, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). This follows a recent similar listing of The Resistance Force, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) front linked to the deadly Pahalgam attack in Kashmir.

Experts warn that this move signals a troubling return to Washington’s decades-old policy of balancing India and Pakistan, a deliberate re-hyphenation of the two countries that American administrations have largely shunned for over 20 years.

Moreover, the designation comes just days after Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir brazenly issued a nuclear threat against India on American soil, warning that Pakistan would “take half the world down with us” if pushed to the brink.

Many analysts see the US move to label Baloch separatist groups as terrorist outfits, at a moment when Munir is openly threatening nuclear annihilation, as a stark case of rewarding bad behaviour.

For India’s current and future leaders, Washington’s apparent indulgence of Pakistan’s serious provocations risks turning the pursuit of a closer India-US partnership into a politically toxic and deeply contentious issue at home, one expert said.