Aadithya Aravindh, Jindal Global Law School
Introduction
Disputes between two sovereign entities are not new to this world. There have been historic instances that such disputes have always existed since even the Vedic times. Similarly, the mechanisms for resolution of these disputes have also existed since these times. One of the most significant in this regard can be found between the Resolution Mechanism employed by Lord Ram in sending his envoy Angad to the Lankan Lord Ravana’s Palace to negotiate as his agent in the Epic Ramayana or by the Pandavas in sending Lord Krishna as their envoy to the Kauravas in the Epic Mahabharata1. This is where the processes of Mediation and Negotiation become major tools in the performance of peaceful settlements for, they heavily emphasize upon the sovereign individuality of these international entities. Thus, for the purposes of this paper and to limit the scope of exploration from a wider ambit, the term ‘dispute’ shall refer to any international conflict with the potential to escalation to an ‘armed conflict’.
The primary issue with regards to any form of dispute resolution involving two sovereign states is the maintenance of their sovereignty in the dispute resolution process. This becomes inherently difficult because these states represent distinct citizenry and an inalienable right of autonomy, the breach of which, could cause the next global conflict plunging the world into another war. While it is a common occurrence in the 21st Century with regards to disputes evolving out of delimitation of land or sea boundaries, sharing of resources and the common nature of available structures and governance of parties, these disputes within themselves are characterized by larger and smaller trifles that ultimately lead to the build-up of the next major conflict. Hence, an issue involving a small piece of land between two countries may have the potential to build up to the next global war2. Therefore, as international conflicts have been a rising concern, the world has been in a constant search to find peaceful alternatives to resolve evolving conflicts.
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