India: Democratic Freedoms

Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Lord Hamilton of Epsom

Thursday 14th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I assure the right reverend Prelate that this Government, with our partners, are fully committed to defending freedom of religion or belief globally. Any reports of discrimination against religious minorities are investigated by the Indian police. We have raised direct concerns about forced conversions, and I assure the right reverend Prelate that we will continue to raise these in a productive and constructive way with the Government of India.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, before the United Kingdom Government push again for India to join the permanent five, will we look for an improvement in India of the treatment of minorities and the democratic process?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I said in previous answers that we continue to recognise India’s valuable contribution internationally, but, equally, we raise concerns constructively where we see them.

Nova Kakhovka Dam

Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Lord Hamilton of Epsom

Tuesday 13th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I can give the noble Lord that assurance. In a previous Question, we talked about the importance of Ukraine’s supplying the world’s economies with grain. We have yet to see how this will impact, for example, the Black Sea grain initiative. The Dnipro river goes straight into the Black Sea, so of course there are implications. As the noble Lord, Lord Browne, pointed out, many mines have been washed through and that assessment has still to be made, but specific parts of the conference are allocated to agriculture. Half a billion people used to get their grain from Ukraine, so there is a major task ahead of us.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, further to my noble friend Lord Selkirk’s remarks about drinking water, is it right that this reservoir provided drinking water for Crimea, and what are the implications long term for that?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I assure my noble friend that we are seeking to make early assessments of the full implications. What is clear is that this provided water to many parts of Ukraine, including those areas currently occupied by Russia. Frankly, a full assessment cannot be made until we get full and unfettered access. I regret to say—I would be glad to be proven wrong—that I do not think we will be able to make that assessment until Russia does the decent thing and withdraws from Ukraine.

India: Missionaries of Charity

Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Lord Hamilton of Epsom

Thursday 6th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, as I alluded to in my response to the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, India is a key partner and ally. It is also a democracy with a constitution and that constitution provides protection for all communities, including those of different faiths and, as the noble Lord pointed out, the Dalit community. I assure the noble Lord that we continue to make the case for strengthening human rights constructively with the Government of India. We believe we are strong partners and friends of India, which allows us to make these representations in a constructive manner and strengthen the work we do ourselves with NGO partners in India, to ensure that representation of those such as the Dalits is supported, particularly through specific funding programmes funded by the British Government.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, how does the Indian respect for human rights tie in with the caste system?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, as someone who knows that part of the world well, what we have seen in India over time is increased representation of different castes and communities within different parts of the Government and in society. Human rights is never a done deal or a completed job; we need to be ever vigilant across the world and stand up for the human rights of all communities.

Covid-19: Vaccine Donations

Debate between Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Lord Hamilton of Epsom

Tuesday 14th December 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, one thing that the challenge of Covid-19 has shown is our interdependency and the need to work together. We have certainly demonstrated that. On the noble Lord’s first point about short-sightedness, on the contrary, when my right honourable friend the Prime Minister returned from his own challenge with Covid-19, the first thing he did was to spearhead the COVAX facility. That is doing exactly what the noble Lord suggests in ensuring that the most vulnerable are supported. I shall follow up on his specific question about the Livingston facility.

[Lord Hamilton of Epsom (Con)]

My Lords, there have been reports in the press that the problems in sub-Saharan Africa relate not to supply but distribution. Which is the difficulty, supply or distribution of vaccines?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, there is a need to do more on supply to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines. However, as I have said in earlier answers, there is equally a real challenge with infrastructure in developing parts of the world to ensure that, once vaccines arrive, they can be distributed around the country.