ISLAMABAD: In a significant diplomatic victory, Pakistan has been named vice-chair of the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) Counter-Terrorism Committee, tasked with overseeing implementation of resolution 1373 (2001) concerning international anti-terror efforts, according to an official statement issued by Pakistan’s mission to UN on Wednesday.
Islamabad has played an active role in promoting the principles and purposes of the UN Charter and made significant contributions to international peace and security, including its role as one of the leading troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions across the world. It was elected to the UN Security Council in June 2024 and replaced Japan in the Asian seat.
Pakistan had been one of the worst victims of terrorism for over two decades as the country loss more than 80,000 lives and thousands more injured.
Pakistan has time and again raised the issued of India sponsoring and backing terrorist groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) to carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
Ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours plunged to the lowest levels following recent standoff over killing of 26 tourists in Pahalgam, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, that the New Delhi blamed on Islamabad.
Pakistan categorically rejected the allegation while offering a transparent probe int the incident, and drew the international community’s attention to Indian proxies involved in terrorism inside the country.
According to a statement issued by Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the UN today, Pakistan has also been appointed as Chair of the UN Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011), which oversees the implementation of the sanctions measures on the Taliban.
In further recognition of its diplomatic engagement, Pakistan has also been appointed Co-Chair of the Security Council’s Informal Working Group (IWG) on documentation and working methods, as well as the newly formed IWG on Sanctions.
The documentation group works to enhance transparency, efficiency, and inclusiveness in the Council’s procedures, while the IWG on Sanctions focuses on improving the effectiveness and design of UN sanctions regimes.
“These appointments represent an acknowledgement of Pakistan’s active engagement with the United Nations system including its constructive role as an elected member of the Security Council. They are also an international recognition of Pakistan’s counter terrorism efforts,” the mission said.
It added, “Pakistan remains committed to working with the United Nations and fellow member states in advancing the principles and purposes of the UN Charter as well as playing its part in the global fight against terrorism in collaboration with its international partners.”
In the latest UNSC elections held on Tuesday, five new countries — Bahrain, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Latvia, Liberia, and Colombia — were elected to serve on the Council for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2026.
The Security Council is the only UN body that can make legally binding decisions such as imposing sanctions and authorising use of force. It has five permanent veto-wielding members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
The remaining 10 members are elected, with five new members joining every year. Bahrain, Colombia, the DRC, Latvia, and Liberia — who were all elected in uncontested slates — will replace Algeria, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Guyana and Slovenia.
To ensure geographical representation, seats are allocated to regional groups. But even if candidates are running unopposed in their group, they still need to win the support of more than two-thirds of the General Assembly.
