Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the visit to the UK by Bakhtiyor Saidov, the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan, on 24 July, what priority areas were put forward in discussion by (1) Uzbekistan, (2) the UK; and when they anticipate that a return visit will take place to Uzbekistan by the Foreign Secretary or another Secretary of State.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary met Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov on 24 July to discuss how to advance our interests together, and how we can build stronger cooperation. The UK is committed to working with Uzbekistan across our many shared priorities: security, trade, human rights, climate and the war in Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary's travel plans over the next year are yet to be decided, however he is committed to increasing ties with Uzbekistan. The Minister for Europe and Central Asia, Leo Docherty, visited Uzbekistan on 6 June and has since visited the four other Central Asian Republics.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to update the Integrated Review Refresh 2023 on a quarterly basis, given the evolving policy and geopolitical circumstances.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are no plans for a fixed schedule of updates for the Integrated Review Refresh 2023. However, the Government will regularly review the overall strategy to ensure it is keeping pace with the evolving international environment.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to encourage frontier and emerging market countries to adopt environmental, social and governance standards for attracting investment into those countries and to safeguard financial returns.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports globally consistent Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards through the work being led by the International Sustainability Standards Board. The UK also works through our Development Finance Institution, British International Investment (BII), which plays an important role in implementing ESG standards. BII for example has a policy on Responsible Investing which sets out the environmental, social and business integrity requirements (ESG) that BII Investees are expected to meet after an investment is made.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the government of India's six G20 priorities, published on 12 March.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government welcomes India's Presidency of the G20 and the important priorities that it has set out. The Foreign Secretary has made clear his support for putting the needs of developing countries first and giving the G20 a strong voice on the global stage.
India takes on the Presidency at a time when the world is facing multiple challenges. India's scale, diversity and its extraordinary successes mean it is the right country at the right time to hold the G20 Presidency.
Our goals for the G20 are evolving as the Presidency's agenda consolidates, and our officials are working closely with India to develop successful outcomes.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific proposals, if any, they have forwarded to the government of India for consideration at the forthcoming G20 meeting.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government places a high priority on the G20 and will continue to engage closely with India throughout its Presidency.
In visits to India, the Foreign Secretary and Chancellor reaffirmed their strong support for India's G20 Presidency and committed to work together to address the world's most pressing challenges. The Prime Minister is looking forward to attending the New Delhi Summit in September this year.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the outcome of the recent meeting of E3 diplomats with Iran in Oslo; and what assessment they have made of that outcome.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
E3 (France, Germany and the UK) Political Directors met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, in Oslo on 16/17 March. The discussion covered the range of our concerns about Iran's behaviour, including its continued nuclear escalation. We have made clear to Iran that its actions over the past months have made progress towards a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue much more difficult. This was not a negotiation on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Kazakhstan regarding knowledge sharing and capacity building on (1) sanctions compliance, (2) anti-money laundering measures, (3) regulation of cryptocurrencies, and (4) ‘Know Your Customer’ compliance.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government has recently had several high-level engagements with the Government of Kazakhstan, including hosting the UK-Kazakhstan Strategic Dialogue in December, the UK-Kazakh Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Investment in February and the Foreign Secretary's visit to Astana on 18 March, meeting President Tokayev and other senior Kazakhs. In our engagements, we continually emphasise the importance of developing and maintaining a quality business environment to support international investment into Kazakhstan. Although senior meetings have not covered the cryptocurrency regulations, the UK successfully ran a pilot project in 2022 on financial compliance to assess different types of training on tackling illicit finance.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to join (1) the International Science and Technology Center, and (2) the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
His Majesty's Government (HMG) already engages with the International Science and Technology Center and the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine; we have no current plans to join them. HMG aims to ensure that science and technology underpins Ukraine's recovery and is exploring ways to deepen our connections and engagement with a range of institutions in Ukraine. To date, the focus has been on supporting researchers at risk, a twinning programme for UK and Ukrainian universities and supporting the tech sector, which will be a focus for the forthcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they provide to British companies seeking to navigate international sanctions regimes and to find out, quickly and cost-effectively, which people and entities are subject to sanctions imposed by the (1) UK, (2) EU, (3) USA, and (4) UN.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government publishes the UK Sanctions List, sanctions legislation and guidance on gov.uk to support businesses in understanding their obligations under the UK's sanctions regimes. This includes information in relation to all UN sanctions regimes, which the UK implements. It is important for businesses to do their own due diligence.
The UK coordinates with the US and EU on designing sanctions. The US and the US provide their own guidance to businesses on how to comply with their legislation.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prospects for progress on (1) the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiations, (2) political prisoner releases, and (3) gas supplies to the UK and EU, of strengthened democratic governance and transparency in Iran; and what discussions they will have with the government of the United States about those prospects.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Iran's lack of regard for the rule of law and lack of transparency was starkly on show in 2022, not least through the authorities' brutal crackdown on protests. The execution of young people detained in connection to protests is a tragic result of a system where forced confessions, lack of due process and disproportionate sentences are rife. UK action, alongside our partners, is shining a light on the regime's persistent human rights violations. Through our sanctions designations, our work in multilateral fora and our lobbying, the UK is keeping the focus of international pressure on the regime including those responsible for unfairly detaining British and other foreign nationals.
A viable deal was put on the table in March and again in August 2022 which would have returned Iran to compliance with its Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) commitments and returned the US to the deal. Iran refused to seize a critical diplomatic opportunity to conclude the deal with continued demands beyond the scope of the JCPoA. We are considering next steps with our international partners, including the US.
Iran lacks the required physical and political infrastructure for gas exports.