US Threat Report Sidesteps Pakistan’s Role in Global Terrorism, Sparks Concern in India
New Delhi – The 2025 Annual Threat Assessment (ATA) released by the US intelligence community in late March has triggered unease within India’s security circles, as it pointedly omits Pakistan from the list of major state-actor threats. While traditional adversaries like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran dominate the 31-page report, Pakistan’s long-standing role in cross-border terrorism finds no direct mention.
Instead, the report highlights transnational concerns like drug cartels, cybercriminals, and extremist outfits such as ISIS-K, while only referring to regional non-state actors like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in the context of their affiliations with Al Qaeda.
Security analysts in India see this as a worrying shift. “It’s a clear indication that the US is narrowing its lens to threats that directly affect American homeland security, rather than acknowledging the regional realities that India faces daily,” remarked a senior counter-terrorism expert based in New Delhi.
Despite repeated global acknowledgements of Pakistan’s support—both direct and covert—to terror networks like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, the report’s failure to categorize Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism has raised questions over Washington’s geopolitical calculus.
Sources within India’s intelligence community suggest this omission may be driven by Washington’s need to keep diplomatic lines open with Islamabad, especially in light of Pakistan’s geographic relevance to Afghanistan and its strategic ties with China.
“It’s a balancing act,” observed a senior intelligence officer. “But in doing so, the US risks downplaying threats that have claimed thousands of Indian lives.”
In India, the omission has reignited calls for a more self-reliant and assertive national security doctrine. Analysts argue that rather than depending on international assessments that overlook key ground realities, India must reinforce cooperation between domestic intelligence agencies like RAW, IB, NIA, and NTRO.
“India needs to build its counter-terrorism framework with the understanding that no global power will articulate our threats the way we perceive them,” said a national security strategist.
There is also a broader concern that downplaying Pakistan’s involvement on international forums could embolden terror ecosystems operating within its borders. “History has shown us that underestimating the threat landscape, as happened before 9/11, comes at a grave cost,” warned a veteran counter-terror official.
As global power dynamics evolve, New Delhi seems prepared to recalibrate its strategic focus—prioritizing homegrown intelligence, sharpening regional surveillance, and confronting the Pakistani terror nexus on its own terms, regardless of Western interpretations.
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