Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when his Department plans to respond to the Eighth Report of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Session 2022-23 on Tilting Horizons: the Integrated Review and the Indo-Pacific, HC 172, published on 30 August 2023; and if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the recommendations in the Open Doors 2024 World Watch List.

The Government will publish shortly its response to Foreign Affairs Committee report HC 172 on the Indo-Pacific. The Government welcomes the Committee's recognition of the strategic importance of the Indo-Pacific to the UK's prosperity, security and development objectives.

We note the launch of the report by Open Doors entitled World Watch List 2024. Championing freedom of religion or belief for all remains a priority for the UK. We will continue to recognise, and seek to address, the issue of persecution of Christians globally on account of their faith, as well as the persecution of those of other religions or beliefs.