Permanent Mission of India
New York
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UNSC High-Level Open Debate on “Framing the global dialogue: addressing food insecurity as a driver of conflict and ensuring food security for sustainable peace”

Statement delivered by Ambassador Yojna Patel, Deputy Permanent Representative
17 November 2025

Mr. President,

India thanks the Republic of Sierra Leone for convening this timely and thoughtful debate. The theme goes to the heart of one of the most pressing humanitarian challenges of our times — the growing prevalence of hunger in regions afflicted by conflict.

Let us be clear: food insecurity is one of the most devastating consequences of conflict. It arises when violence and political instability disrupt agriculture, displace communities, destroy infrastructure, and impede humanitarian access. It is a manifestation of governance breakdown and prolonged insecurity.

We must distinguish between addressing violations of international humanitarian law—which falls within the Council’s purview—and building food-secure, resilient societies, which requires the long-term, coordinated engagement of the UN development system (UNDS). The use of starvation as a weapon of war is unequivocally prohibited under Resolution 2417 and the Geneva Conventions.

Mr. President,

Armed conflict disrupts food systems by destroying infrastructure, blocking markets, and displacing communities. Mitigating these impacts depends on restoring peace, strengthening governance, and rebuilding national capacities. The Council’s role should remain focused on facilitating humanitarian access and ensuring that its own measures, including sanctions, do not impede food assistance.

Food insecurity is most often a consequence of instability and underdevelopment. The sustainable path forward lies in reinforcing social protection systems, climate-resilient agriculture, and livelihood programmes through the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and national strategies.

Mr. President,

National Governments bear the primary responsibility for ensuring food security and the resilience of their food systems. Regional organisations can complement these efforts by promoting cross-border trade, early-warning systems, and transport corridors. Countries must, above all, respect international humanitarian law and guarantee safe humanitarian access.

To improve access in conflict zones, coordination through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Food Programme’s logistics mechanisms, remains the most effective channel. The Security Council should support de-confliction arrangements.

Looking ahead, innovation must come from within the development sphere: anticipatory-action financing, climate-smart agriculture, digital supply-chain platforms, and South-South knowledge partnerships can all strengthen resilience in fragile contexts. Predictable, concessional finance—consistent with the outcomes of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development — is essential to scaling such efforts.

Mr. President,

India firmly believes that peace, development, and food security are interdependent. The Council should support an enabling environment for development actors to function effectively, while the General Assembly, ECOSOC, and Rome-based agencies lead the substantive response.

In reaffirming its commitment to multilateralism and solidarity with the Global South, India calls for renewed trust in the UN development system which is best equipped to ensure that every person, in every nation, has access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food.

Thank you.

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