Pakistan is set to chair the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee in 2025. This committee oversees the implementation of sanctions such as asset freezes, travel restrictions, and arms embargoes on individuals and groups linked to the Taliban that threaten peace and stability in Afghanistan.
In addition to this key role, Pakistan will serve as vice-chair of the UNSC’s Counter-Terrorism Committee, a 15-member body focused on combating global terrorism. Guyana and Russia will also serve as vice-chairs of the Taliban Sanctions Committee.
As per the updated list of chairs for the UN Security Council’s subsidiary bodies, Denmark will head the 1267 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee in 2025, with Russia and Sierra Leone appointed as its vice-chairs. Algeria will lead the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee, with France, Pakistan, and Russia serving as its vice-chairs.
Pakistan, which has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2025–26 term, will also co-chair two informal working groups: one on documentation and procedural matters, and another on general sanctions issues within the Council.
The UNSC comprises five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—and ten rotating non-permanent members. The current non-permanent members include Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia.
In elections held Tuesday, five new countries—Bahrain, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Latvia, and Colombia—were elected by secret ballot to join the Council for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2026.
