UNITED NATIONS, June 6: Pakistan will chair the United Nations Security Council’s Taliban Sanctions Committee in 2025 and serve as a vice-chair of its Counter-Terrorism Committee, as per a list of leadership roles for the Council’s subsidiary bodies.
As a non-permanent member of the 15-nation body for the 2025–26 term, Pakistan will oversee the 1988 Sanctions Committee, which enforces an asset freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo on individuals and entities associated with the Taliban threatening peace and stability in Afghanistan. Guyana and Russia will serve as vice-chairs of the committee.
Pakistan will also act as a vice-chair of the 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee, chaired by Algeria, with France and Russia also in vice-chair roles. Additionally, Pakistan will co-chair informal working groups on documentation and procedural questions, and on general sanctions issues.
Denmark will lead the 1267 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, with Russia and Sierra Leone appointed as vice-chairs.
India, which chaired the Counter-Terrorism Committee in 2022 during its previous UNSC tenure, has repeatedly accused Pakistan of harboring the largest number of UN-proscribed terrorists. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan’s Abbottabad before being killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in 2011.
The Security Council’s sanctions committees include all 15 members and operate by consensus. The five permanent UNSC members are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Current non-permanent members include Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Pakistan, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia.
