UNITED NATIONS, Jan 23 (APP): Pakistan on Thursday called for the upholding and application of international law, including the core principles of the UN Charter, more ‘consistently, courageously and faithfully’ to protect rules-based order, with no selective compliance or legal exceptionalism.
Speaking at the International Law Year in Review 2026 Conference in Singapore, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, drew attention to India’s “illegal and unilateral” act of putting into abeyance the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which regulates water sharing between the two neighbours, as he urged a pushback against any erosion of treaty compliance.
Ambassador Asim Ahmad, who was addressing the concluding session of the Conference titled ‘International Law in Action,’ also advocated restraint over use of force, and called for ‘better and fuller’ implementation of UN Security Council resolutions, according to a press release of the Pakistan Mission to the UN.
On Pakistan’s perspective on the primacy of international law for the maintenance of international peace and security and sustenance of the rules-based international order, he said referred to the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2788 under Pakistani Presidency in July last year, which, he said, reaffirms the centrality of peaceful settlement of disputes despite a deeply divisions in the 15-member body.
Appreciating the work of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Law Commission (ILC), Ambassador Asim Ahmad emphasized the need for progressive development of international law in the face of new and emerging challenges including AI, cyber, and autonomous weapons.
The Pakistani envoy noted that despite the challenges, the vast majority of member states have deep faith in the UN and multilateralism.
He stressed the need for the continued efforts to reform and adapt the UN and the Security Council structures to the contemporary ideals of democracy and accountability – a reform that does not exacerbate the fundamental flaws entrenched in permanent membership and veto, rather enhances the relative weight and power of the elected members.
APP/ift