Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West), Sanjay Verma recently highlighted the 51st Annual Conference of the Indian Society of International Law (ISIL) where he highlighted the challenges faced by the international community which include terrorism, transnational crimes, and illicit drugs.

"International law is also in a flux. It is not only about sovereign equality of States or prohibition of the use of force and protection of basic human rights anymore," he said.

"Challenges like international terrorism, transnational crimes, illicit drug and human trafficking, money laundering, climate change, cyber-crime, corruption, health are other new main stream concerns for the international community. International Law now also needs to deal with a digital and AI future," he said.

He said the international law touches every aspect of human life.

Verma said: "Due to rapid technological advancements, the world has become smaller. This necessitates the need for finding common approaches to counter problems of environmental degradation, cross-border terrorism, international trade, human rights and utilization of resources beyond national jurisdictions culminating into international rules. No country can afford to ignore international law."

He said India has made notable contributions to various aspects of international law.

"India believes in the promotion of democratic values and processes. We have consistently played an important role in seeking international consensus to tackle major global challenges and foster international cooperation and collaboration," he said.

Varma said: "The international order is changing rapidly. In this scenario, I would like to propose that ISIL may contribute even more to our international law discourse by encouraging Research Scholars to address subjects like – Migration & Mobility, Extradition, MLAT, Insolvency, Social Security Agreement, Matrimonial, property, child custody, commercial disputes and FTAs and investment treaties. Further, emerging concerns like: Air and Space Law, Energy Law, Cyber Law and Digital Assets should also be their focus."