UNITED NATIONS
\nPakistan has called for stronger respect for international law, warning that selective application of legal principles is deepening global instability. Speaking at a high-level debate of the UN Security Council on January 26, Pakistan\u2019s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said the erosion of the rule of law was contributing to conflict, humanitarian crises and weakening trust between countries.
\nHe said international law was meant to make relations between states predictable and stable. But when countries ignore agreed rules, he warned, \u201claw risks losing its meaning\u201d. The Pakistani envoy said the core principles of the UN Charter \u2014 including sovereignty, territorial integrity and the prohibition on the use of force \u2014 were being challenged more frequently. He cautioned against attempts to normalise unilateral actions outside the UN framework.
\n\u201cSelective application of legal norms, erosion of treaty obligations, and unilateral actions have weakened trust among states and strained the multilateral system anchored in the UN Charter,\u201d he stressed. \u201cWhen law yields to power or expediency, instability deepens, disputes entrench further, and peaceful coexistence jeopardised.\u201d Referring to tensions with India, Ambassador Ahmad said Pakistan had experienced violations of international law first-hand, pointing out that India carried out military aggression last year that led to Pakistan responding in self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
\nHe added that lasting peace in South Asia required resolving the Kashmir dispute in line with UN resolutions and ensuring respect for treaty obligations, including water-sharing agreements. Turning to the wider global picture, he said many developing countries had long faced the effects of \u201cdouble standards\u201d in the international system. Despite this, he said, nations in the Global South continued to place their trust in the UN and in a fair, rules-based international order.
\nThe UN envoy also pointed to what he described as positive developments, including progress in international maritime law and recent advisory opinions by the International Court of Justice on Palestine and climate change. He said such legal rulings must be respected universally, not selectively. He told the Council that the situation in Palestine highlighted the consequences of failing to apply international law equally. Denying people their right to self-determination and ignoring UN resolutions, he said, damaged the credibility of the international system.
\nPakistan proposed several steps to strengthen compliance with international law. These included better monitoring of how Security Council resolutions are implemented, more frequent legal briefings to the Council, and greater use of the International Court of Justice in resolving disputes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS Pakistan has called for stronger respect for international law, warning that selective application of legal principles is deepening global instability. Speaking at a high-level debate of the UN Security Council on January 26, Pakistan\u2019s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said the erosion of the rule of law was contributing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528095,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-528076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n