Analyse the role of the UN Security Council in managing regional conflicts affecting global maritime chokepoints, with reference to the Strait of Hormuz crisis.

The Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly 38% of global crude oil [1], was blockaded after the US-Israel strikes on Iran of 28 February 2026. The crisis shows a Security Council effective as convenor and norm-setter, but blocked as an enforcer.

Enabling role: forum, norms and relief

• Collective bargaining platform: Gulf States tabled a draft resolution to protect Hormuz shipping at the Council's 10130th meeting (7 April 2026), securing 11 of 15 votes — a near-consensus no other body could assemble [1].
• Norm articulation: the UN system reaffirmed freedom of navigation, with the IMO Secretary-General warning that ships and crews had become "leverage in geopolitical disputes" [2].
• Humanitarian coordination: against some 20,000 seafarers stranded on about 2,000 vessels [2], UN-backed efforts enabled the evacuation of 136 ships and rescue of 2,900 seafarers [4].

Structural limits exposed

• The veto: China and Russia voted the text down (11-2-2), calling it one-sided for ignoring US and Israeli actions [1] — paralysis arises precisely when P5 members are parties or patrons.
• Enforcement gap: the Council fell back on appeals, the Secretary-General calling the conflict "totally out of control" [3], while Iran unilaterally restricted transit to "non-hostile" ships [3].
• Displacement to bilateral tracks: the operative settlement — a 14-point memorandum of 17 June 2026 covering reopening of the Strait, sanctions relief and 60-day nuclear talks — was negotiated outside the Council, and was soon violated [4].

Consequences for India

• With crude, LNG and the Chabahar-INSTC corridor at stake [5], India relied on bilateral diplomacy, Modi urging resolution "through dialogue and diplomacy" during President Pezeshkian's New Delhi visit of 11 September 2026.

The Council thus set the standards it could not police. Reviving its credibility requires veto restraint on chokepoint-safety resolutions, greater use of IMO and regional maritime mechanisms, and expansion of the Council to reflect stakeholders like India — reform India has long championed as essential to a rules-based maritime order.