India presses UNSC to safeguard sea lanes, warns of food crisis ripple effects

India has urged the international community to act collectively in protecting critical sea lanes, stressing that secure and predictable maritime trade routes are essential for the uninterrupted movement of food, fertilisers and fuel. The appeal came during a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) debate on conflict-driven food insecurity.

Addressing the UNSC High-Level Open Debate titled 'Food Under Fire: The Security Council's Role in Mitigating Global and Local Food Crises' on Tuesday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, said food insecurity remains one of the gravest humanitarian consequences of armed conflict. He noted that today's conflicts increasingly generate ripple effects far beyond the immediate theatre of hostilities.

Mr. Parvathaneni pointed to disruptions in energy markets, fertiliser supplies, maritime transport, humanitarian logistics and agricultural trade as examples of how regional conflicts can threaten food security worldwide. He emphasised that the greatest burden falls on developing countries that are highly import-dependent.

India said the UN Security Council's immediate priority should be to mitigate the humanitarian consequences of conflict. This, according to Mr. Parvathaneni, requires facilitating safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, supporting de-confliction arrangements where appropriate, and ensuring that the Council's own measures, including sanctions regimes, do not inadvertently impede humanitarian assistance or legitimate food and agricultural trade.

Underscoring the need to preserve the safety and freedom of navigation for commercial shipping in accordance with international law, he said, "Secure and predictable maritime trade routes are indispensable for the uninterrupted movement of food, fertilisers, fuel and other essential commodities." He warned that disruptions to commercial shipping during conflicts can have cascading effects far beyond the immediate region, disproportionately affecting food-importing developing countries and humanitarian operations.

The international community must therefore work collectively to safeguard critical sea lanes and maritime infrastructure, while ensuring that legitimate commercial trade and humanitarian shipments proceed without undue impediment, he added.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, addressing the same debate, said 2025 saw the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II, as well as among the highest levels of global acute hunger on record. At least 266 million people faced acute food insecurity during the year. He described the confirmation of two simultaneous famines, in Sudan and Gaza, as a "shameful milestone" — the first such occurrence this century.

Mr. Guterres noted that the UN's latest Hunger Hotspots report shows conflict and violence are the primary drivers in 12 out of 13 hunger hotspots of greatest concern. He also drew attention to the Strait of Hormuz, which carries around a fifth of global oil supplies and a third of global fertiliser trade. As the U.S.-Israel war against Iran continues, he said restrictions and closures have driven up commodity prices and made availability plummet. Attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea are further threatening supply chains for food and other commodities.

India told the Council that food insecurity is fundamentally a consequence of conflict, political instability and underdevelopment, not their root cause. Mr. Parvathaneni called for timely assessments of disruptions to critical supply chains, including food, fertiliser, fuel and humanitarian logistics, drawing upon the technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Food Programme and other relevant agencies. "Such assessments must remain objective, evidence-based and free from politicisation," he said.

India further stated that member States, international financial institutions, regional organisations and development partners must work together to address underlying vulnerabilities and build resilience in conflict-affected regions. The debate underlined the growing recognition that safeguarding maritime trade routes is not just an economic issue but a humanitarian imperative in an increasingly interconnected world.