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International Humanitarian Law (IHL), also known as the law of armed conflict, seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict. In an era of asymmetric warfare and non-state actors, IHL faces new challenges in ensuring compliance and accountability.

Core Principles

IHL is built upon four fundamental principles:

• Distinction: Parties must distinguish between combatants and civilians
• Proportionality: Attacks must not cause excessive civilian harm relative to military advantage
• Military Necessity: Force must be necessary to achieve a legitimate military objective
• Humanity: Superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering are prohibited

The Geneva Conventions

The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols form the cornerstone of IHL. India is a party to all four Conventions.

Modern Challenges

Cyber warfare, autonomous weapons systems, and the blurring of civilian-military boundaries pose unprecedented challenges to the application and enforcement of IHL.