India: Minorities

Lord Farmer Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

We raise these issues with the Indian Government, as my noble friend would expect us to. Clearly, it is for India to make its own choices, and it has been many decades, thankfully, since we were in a position to do otherwise, but we continue to have the appropriate conversations that she would wish us to have because, as I said in my earlier answer, some things, such as human rights, are universal, and that is how this Government approach these issues.

[Lord Farmer (Con)]

My Lords, were assurances on freedom of religion or belief sought from the Government of India ahead of the recently agreed trade deal? The UK’s independent Trade and Agriculture Commission will scrutinise the free trade agreement and report on whether the measures within it are consistent with UK protections for animals, plant life and life, animal welfare, and the environment, but what, if any, scrutiny is carried out on the welfare of Christians and other persecuted minorities?

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

As I said, we raise the issues that the noble Lord is concerned about directly with the Government of India. Animal welfare, plants and phytosanitary issues all relate to trade, our ability to trade fairly and being fair to our producers here in the UK. They are part of a trade negotiation that is in many ways quite separate to the conversations that we would have anyway, regardless of where we stand in our relationship when it comes to trade.