Indian Media’s False Narrative on Alleged ISKP LeT Alliance

Indian Media’s False Narrative on Alleged ISKP LeT Alliance

Once again in a familiar pattern, Indian media has started a disinformation campaign. The campaign surrounds that Pakistan’s intelligence agencies are planning a secret partnership between the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) to destabilize Balochistan and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK). These accusations ascribed to the nebulous sources of “intelligence” and have no verifiable foundation.

It conveniently fit into India’s longstanding attempt to demonize Pakistan at the international level and deflect focus from India’s own human rights abuses in IIOJK.

A Fake Threat Story Fabricated

Indian media have latterly claimed that ISKP is gaining footholds in Balochistan and that Pakistan has used differences between the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and ISKP to fight separatists. They also hint that LeT is becoming affiliated with ISKP to increase the activity of militants in IIOJK. Not only is there no credible evidence of such cooperation, but ISKP has also not made any statement linking its operations to Kashmir. The narrative is based on speculation, an old tactic fueling anti-Pakistan hysteria in Indian domestic discourse.
The assertion that Pakistan is forging alliances between banned groups too is not based on facts. LeT was banned in Pakistan on January 14, 2002, under the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) system. Its properties were frozen, its leadership were indicted, and its members were prosecuted under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). Hafiz Saeed and twelve of his associates were convicted in 2019 on a terrorism financing charge. These measures have been acknowledged by the UN Security Council and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which took Pakistan out of the grey list in 2022 after verifying sufficient anti-terror financing measures in the country.

Pakistan’s Proven Counterterrorism Commitment

For more than two decades, Pakistan has been actively dismantling and prosecuting extremist groups operating in its country. It has always been practicing strict counterterrorism frameworks in its legal framework, which includes the Antiterrorism Act of 1997, the National Agency for Combating Terrorism Act 2014 (NACTA Act), the Investigation for Fair Trial Act 2014, and amendments granting power to Anti-Terrorism Courts. These laws provide for preventive detention and increase the focus of prosecution to ensure that no criminal entity can reorganize. Pakistan has been applauded internationally in this regard, for instance in the Asia Pacific Group’s 2019 Mutual Evaluation Report, which praised Pakistan’s robust AML/CFT regime.
The US Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue on August 12, 2025, in Islamabad reaffirmed Pakistan’s key role in regional stability. Also, US officials praised Pakistan’s success in limiting terrorist networks threatening South Asia and global peace.

The election of Pakistan to the UNSC (2025-26) and designation as Chair of the UNSC Taliban-Sanctions Committee highlight global confidence in its counterterrorism credentials.

Shifting the Discourse away from Indian Abuses in IIOJK

India’s proclivity to project blame is by no means new. Each time there is mounting pressure on India’s human rights violations in IIOJK (detentions, extrajudicial executions, media restrictions), New Delhi changes the conversation by saying that Pakistan is promoting terrorism. The recent ISKP-LeT conspiracy falls squarely in this pattern. It aims to portray Pakistan as a destabilizer although it is India that continuously backs anti-Pakistan elements like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Baloch Republican Front (BRF), Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and Majeed Brigade.
In addition, Indian complicity in trans-border terrorism has been exposed time and again, from the question of Indian RAW operative Kulbhushan Jadhav to the open glorification of anti-Pakistan militants on Indian television. While India is criticizing other countries for extremism, its own media regularly airs people who have called for and incited violence against Pakistan.

Reality in IIOJK

The anti-occupation resistance movement in IIOJK is indigenous, rooted in decades of political disenfranchisement, demographic manipulation, and military oppression. It is not a proxy war waged by Pakistan. Islamabad’s role is political and diplomatic, calling for the right of the Kashmiris to self-determination as enshrined in UN Security Council Resolutions.
Whether or not one chooses to criticize Pakistan’s legislation and intelligence gathering tactics, it is indisputable that Pakistan has effectively dismantled LeT and ISKP domestically and neither group has any presence in Pakistan. The notion of co-operation between two non-existent bodies in the country is illogical and untenable.

Over and above that, India’s recent allegation of an ISKP-LeT nexus through Pakistan’s ISI is yet another malicious attempt to demonize Pakistan while hiding its own state-sponsored terrorism and human rights abuses in IIOJK. The United Nations and the United States, along with the international community, still consider Pakistan to be in making progress and being sincere in its fight against extremism.
Instead of creating imaginary stories, it would be appropriate that India should face the emerging unrest in IIOJK and engage in dialogue and respect the fundamental rights of the people of Kashmir. Propaganda could be used for short-term political purposes, but it cannot hide truth for a long time.