Pakistan has not won a permanent UNSC presidency; it has been elected only as a non-permanent member for a two-year term
A social media post claims that Pakistan has won the permanent presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with 182 out of 193 votes. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.
Claim: Pakistan has won the permanent presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) by securing 182 out of 193 votes.
Fact: Pakistan has not won a “permanent” seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). It has been elected as a non-permanent member for the 2025–2026 term, securing 182 out of 193 votes in the UN General Assembly. The UNSC comprises five permanent members with veto power—China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US—and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. The Council’s presidency rotates monthly among all members, and Pakistan will hold it only for one month during its term, which was July 2025. Pakistan’s seat is temporary. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To verify the claim, we did a Google search and found that Pakistan has not won a “permanent” seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Pakistan was elected as a non-permanent member for the 2025–2026 term, securing 182 out of 193 votes in the UN General Assembly. The UNSC comprises five permanent members with veto power—China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US—and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. Pakistan’s election was part of the regular biennial process, in which five non-permanent members are chosen every two years.
The presidency of the UNSC is not permanent and rotates monthly among all Council members, both permanent and non-permanent. During its two-year term, Pakistan will hold the Council’s presidency for one month, according to this rotation schedule, which was July 2025. Pakistan holds a temporary, non-permanent seat on the UNSC and will assume the presidency only for one month during its tenure. Before this, Pakistan has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council seven times: 1952–1953, 1968–1969, 1976–1977, 1983–1984, 1993–1994, 2003–2004, and 2012–2013.
So far, India has been a non-permanent member of the UNSC eight times (1950–1951, 1967–1968, 1972–1973, 1977–1978, 1984–1985, 1991–1992, 2011–2012, and 2021–2022), with its most recent term in 2021–2022. India was elected for the eighth time with a majority, securing 184 out of 193 votes during the elections held in June 2020 in New York. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has already reportedly announced India’s candidature as a non-permanent member for the 2028–2029 term.
To sum up, Pakistan has not won a permanent UNSC presidency; it has been elected only as a non-permanent member for a two-year term.