Ahmer Bilal Soofi

Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi was invited as a guest on The Power Game with Naveed Hussain to deliver a legal and strategic assessment of India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, which he characterised as a violation of international law and a manifestation of geopolitical brinkmanship. He underscored that the concept of “abeyance” has no standing in international law, that treaty modification requires mutual consent, and that unilateral action fails to meet the threshold for lawful suspension under the Vienna Convention framework. He further noted that recent findings by the Permanent Court of Arbitration reaffirm that unilateral measures cannot defeat international adjudicatory jurisdiction. He warned that engineered unpredictability in water governance risks destabilising regional security, highlighting the broader implications for accountability, treaty compliance, and the credibility of the rules-based international order. Watch the full clip: youtu.be/wack7bd2Rag #IndusWatersTreaty #AhmerBilalSoofi #InternationalLaw #ConstitutionalLaw #RuleOfLaw #LegalAnalysis

Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi was invited as a guest on Conversations @ Foothills, a special podcast by the Institute for Strategic Studies and Research and Analysis at the National Defence University (NDU). Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi’s core thesis is that despite institutional paralysis, international law, as a normative framework, remains resilient and will continue to serve as the benchmark for judging state conduct. On the durability of the rulebook, he argues that international law represents centuries of civilizational consensus, embodied in millions of treaties and conventions. Its depth and breadth make it structurally resistant to being dismantled by individual actors, even powerful ones, and it carries cross-civilizational legitimacy, including alignment with religious value systems. He draws a critical distinction that is often missed in public discourse — UNSC paralysis is not the same as a collapse of international law. The enforcement mechanism may be broken, but the normative framework is not. Since global enforcement is paralyzed, he proposes that regional coalitions can step in, and states that demonstrate legal responsibility can become regional legal leaders. This creates a soft power opportunity for strategically positioned countries, with the implicit suggestion that Pakistan is well placed to seize it. Watch the full clip: youtube.com/watch?v=Xagu7B…

IQRA' is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: *"From Rule of Law to the Rule of Power?* Justice, Treaties, and Moral Responsibility in Times of Conflict" Time: May 10, 2026 09:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting us06web.zoom.us/j/83489842776?… Meeting ID: 834 8984 2776 Passcode: 620681

Pakistan has moved a good move, and the Permanent Court’s interim order is also significant as it requires the submission of data. If India fails to provide it, an inference will be drawn against it, suggesting possible concealment of treaty violations. This could significantly tilt proceedings and lead the court toward a more explicit ruling against India: Ahmer Bilal Soofi, international law expert @AhmerSoofi @SanaMaqboool #InternationalLaw #PakistanDiplomacy #ICJUpdate #PakistanTV

👍youtu.be/0PgYpuPliiw?si…

Who pays and how? - Newspaper - DAWN.COM share.google/H7IXA0eQbHAOZf…

Pakistan’s Strategic Response: Operation Bunyan-un-Marsoos | Expert Analysis | DECODE with Zunaira Azhar Watch Exclusive: youtu.be/Nwbw18J7yO0 #Pakistan #Defence #BreakingNews #Military #Geopolitics #SouthAsia #Analysis #Decode #Security #Express247 @ZunairaAzhar10

@DanQayyum Excellent

Silicon Valley calls it "disruption" and charges a consulting fee. Pakistan calls it jugaar and does it with a hairpin and a motorcycle battery. If the Islamabad talks produce a deal this week, it will not be because of a framework or a doctrine. It will be because someone found a jugaar. New piece.

Excellent

True

Congratulations Pakistan. Rule based world order survives.

Serious

Op-ed: "Strategic wisdom warrants that the civilian infrastructure of Gulf states should not be included in the IRGC’s targets." dawn.com/news/1988405

@taimur_malik So good to see father and son. Feroz is a gift. May the family prosper and remain happy. Lots of duas and sincere wishes.

Today is World Autism Day. Our autistic son, Feroz, is 15 now and when he was first diagnosed with autism I didn’t have much knowledge of what that meant or how many people in Pakistan and beyond were in this boat. There is increased awareness in Pakistan now about Autism but it is still a long way to go and we need a more inclusive environment, enabling educational spaces and work opportunities for such uniquely gifted people. Maheen and I are grateful to our friends and families who have always provided a welcoming and encouraging environment to Feroz. We hope that to be the reality for everyone like him in Pakistan. This photo is from his stall recently at the Lahore Children’s Festival. He was the Boss and we were the Crew.

JUST IN: Three thousand ships are anchored in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Twenty thousand seafarers are aboard them. Fresh food ran out two weeks ago. Perishables are rotting in refrigerated holds whose generators are burning through the last reserves of diesel. Water is rationed. Mental health is deteriorating. No mass evacuation plan exists. No humanitarian corridor has been negotiated. No international body has the authority or the means to move twenty thousand people off three thousand ships through a five-nautical-mile channel controlled by the IRGC. These are the people who move the global economy. Every barrel of oil that reaches a refinery was carried by a seafarer. Every container of goods that stocks a shelf was loaded by one. Every tonne of fertiliser that feeds a field was shipped by one. The war has trapped the invisible workforce that makes globalisation function, and the world has not noticed because the world never notices seafarers until the shelves are empty. The ships themselves are worth tens of billions. The cargo aboard them is worth more. Crude oil, liquefied natural gas, urea, ammonia, consumer electronics, automotive parts, and 200 cryogenic containers of helium that are boiling off at a rate that no engineer can reverse. The stranded fleet is a floating warehouse of every molecule the global economy needs, and the molecules are degrading while the crews ration drinking water. The cargo is valued higher than the people guarding it, and neither can move. The IRGC’s Larak corridor clearance system does not only control entry. It controls exit. A vessel that wants to leave the anchorage zone must obtain the same clearance code, submit the same documentation, and receive the same pilot escort as a vessel seeking to transit. The customs border works in both directions. These crews are not stranded by geography alone. They are stranded by bureaucracy, the same bureaucracy Iran wrapped in the language of sovereign maritime governance when the parliamentary committee approved the Hormuz Management Plan. The toll booth charges for passage through. It also charges for passage out. No centralised evacuation exists because evacuation at this scale would require IRGC approval, and requesting approval would legitimise the system the United States refuses to recognise. So the crews wait. The International Transport Workers Federation issues statements. P&I clubs cover individual medical evacuations by helicopter. Flag states, predominantly Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands, register ships but do not operate navies. The system that made global shipping cheap by divorcing flag from nationality has left twenty thousand people without a government willing to retrieve them. The seafarers are from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia. Countries whose workers crew the world’s merchant fleet because the monthly pay of $1,500 to $3,000 exceeds anything available at home. They signed contracts to deliver cargo across oceans. They did not sign contracts to become indefinite residents of a war zone, rationing water on a ship whose cargo of ammonia could feed a million people if it could reach a port that is 40 nautical miles and one IRGC clearance code away. The helium boils off. The fertiliser waits. The crude oil sits. And the people who carry it all drink less water today than yesterday. The supply chain has a human body at the very bottom of it. The body is thirsty. open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

@MusadaqZ @InterloopLtd @OxfordPakistan @betterpakistan @AribaShahid @AliKhizar @DrOsamaSiddique @AdeelMalikOx Well done.

@InterloopLtd is proud to partner with @OxfordPakistan to launch the "Interloop Oxford Graduate Scholarship", providing full funding for a talented Pakistani graduate student & will be open to graduates of Pakistani universities, with preference given to female candidates. Pakistani students with admission offers from @UniofOxford should apply on the OPP's online application portal, which will go live on 15 March. Further details: x.com/oxfordpakistan…

“The Future of Legal Education and Practice in Pakistan: Innovation, Excellence, and Impact” Bringing together over 200 stakeholders from across Pakistan’s legal community, the conference fostered dialogue on legal education, professional ethics, and continuing legal development

As part of the presentation on Upholding the Sanctity of Treaties for the Maintenance of International Peace and Security during the Arria-formula meeting of the UN Security Council, @AhmerSoofi, eminent lawyer and international law expert, delivered powerful arguments on inviolability and sanctity of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Here is an excerpt from his presentation. "The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in 1997, rejected Hungary's attempt to unilaterally suspend a water treaty and it is a consistent view that they have a higher sanctity in international law framework. Respect for water treaties reflects a recognition that certain interests transcend immediate political disputes. When such agreements are honored, they contribute to regional stability and long-term planning. When they are violated or politicized, the consequences can be severe."

I have been invited by the Permanent Representative of Pakistan and his Mission at the UN Security Council to address the meeting on the theme Upholding the Sanctity of Treaties for the Maintenance of International Peace and Security. The session will include statements from briefers, followed by members of the UN Security Council and other delegations. Date & Time: New York: Friday, January 30, 2026 | 10:00 am – 01:00 pm (EST) Pakistan: Friday, January 30, 2026 | 08:00 pm – 11:00 pm (PST) Venue: Conference Room-11, United Nations Headquarters, New York The proceedings will be available online after the session. Those interested in following it live can watch via UN Web TV: share.google/6PfJLkS3A2M3HT…

سندھ طاس معاہدہ بھارت یکطرفہ طور پر ختم نہیں کر سکتا ۔۔۔۔ احمر بلال صوفی /ماہر انٹر نیشنل قوانین #NuktaaeAitraaz #ptvnews @Shazia_Khan07 youtu.be/5iTgz0jtg2w?si…