Force Majeure: Your Friend During Geopolitical Conflicts

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we witnessed a rapid shift in the way legal and business community interpret Force Majeure ("FM") clauses in commercial contracts. These are no longer perceived as standard boilerplate clauses, but hold significance especially where performance of contracts is hindered due to socio-economic and geopolitical tensions. Typically, FM events mean instances and circumstances which are beyond reasonable control of the contracting parties. A widely worded FM clause includes both natural calamities and man-made events including wars and conflicts which are likely to render the performance of a contract impossible. Once an FM event is triggered, parties may suspend their obligations under the contract for a pre-agreed duration or till the time the occurrence persists or even terminate the contract if the FM event continues to exist without any visibility of a closure. This suspension of obligations or early termination is usually without any