CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY IN INTERNATIONAL ARMED CONFLICTS: LESSONS FROM 2026 WARS FOR REFORMING THE UNGPs AND THE BINDING TREATY: A COMPARATIVE INDO-BRAZIL PERSPECTIVE

The purpose of this paper is to identify the deficiencies of the present-day international legal framework governing corporate participation in armed conflict situations using the 2026 US-Israel-Iran War as a demonstration. This report evaluates the UNGPs, IHL, and ongoing negotiations for a Legally Binding Instrument on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights and focuses on the relationship between HRDD and IHL relating to all three. The research uses qualitative data, primarily jurisprudential-comparative methodology and includes a case study approach. The research is based on the primary documents including the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols (AP), UNGPs Pillar II, the various drafts of the Binding Treaty, the National Action Plans of India and Brazil, and new State practice arising from the 2026 Conflict.

The research identified critical gaps between doctrine and reality, as companies continued to supply weapons, dual-use goods, and logistical support without undertaking appropriate conflict-sensitive HRDD, resulting in harm to civilians and violations of international humanitarian law. The limitations were caused by supply chain opacity, commercial confidentiality, difficulties in pursuing extraterritoriality and weak enforcement mechanisms. The spill-over effects of the 2026 conflict disproportionately affected the economies of the Global South, particularly the energy-dependent economies of this region like India and Brazil. According to the findings of this analysis, there is currently no established framework that adequately addresses these two distinct types of conflict and therefore calls for the introduction of a mandatory “Conflict Impact Assessment” (CIA), improvements to the level of integration of IHL into the business obligations of corporations, greater levels of liability for parent companies, and ultimately the establishment of a supranational body with adequately represented global south members that would oversee compliance by multinational corporations (MNCs) with IHL in conflict settings.

The uniqueness of this research lies in its provision of a current evaluation of the conflict between India and Brazil in the year 2026 as well as providing a novel comparison of the two states through an academic lens of both Asia and Global South studies. The analysis also provides concrete and substantive normative theories and policy recommendations for increasing corporate accountability for their role in armed conflicts around the world, thus contributing to a more equitable and future-oriented development of international law.