Pak should shut down Deobandi schools: US Congressman

Washington, Mar 3: Pakistan needs to be serious about closing down 600 Deobandi madrassas in the country, an influential US lawmaker has said, underlining that there is a prevailing sentiment in the Congress and Trump administration that such schools are breeding ground for terrorists.

"I think, the sentiments are Pakistan needs to be serious about closing down the Deobandi schools, there are about 600 of them as they churn out people who do not know what to do except to really either argue for or carry out jihad," Congressman Ed Royce said at an event hosted by Vivekananda International Foundation, a New Delhi-based think-tank, at the US Capitol on Thursday.

"Pakistan needs to crackdown on groups like the LeT, close down those campuses as well. Pakistan needs to understand that if they are not going to bring perpetrators of the terrorist attacks to justice, they should turn them over to The Hague so that they can be tried in international tribunals and justice can be served," said the Chairman of powerful House Foreign Relations Committee.

A founding member of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, Royce said the Congress and the new Administration is focused on some new issues.

"One is that concept of USD 500 billion in trade between India and the US. That is where we are trying to push the policies...So we need an effective bilateral trade agreement treaty with India. We are pushing to liberalise trade further," Royce said.

"At the same time, we are delighted that among the Indian-American population that we have in the United States, one half of them have post graduate degrees. When we think about what that pertains...we know that there is a very bright future for Indian-Americans," he said.

India and the US, he said, should form their policies on the "core values of rule of law, democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of believe".

"We do not always hit the mark in the US. Those are our goals. India does not always hit the mark. But those are India's goals," he said.

India, he said, is now the ninth largest trading partner of the US.

The counter-terrorism co-operation has also increased over the past several years and the defence ties has strengthened in the last one decade, he said.

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In meeting with Zohran Mamdani, Trump repeats claim he stopped India-Pak war

Agencies

November 22,2025

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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