Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Indian Government on promoting the (a) safety of protesters and (b) right of press freedom in that country.

The Foreign Secretary discussed protests about agricultural reforms with his Indian counterpart during his visit to India in December. It is our view that the right to gather lawfully and demonstrate a point of view is common to all democracies. Governments also have the power to enforce law and order if a protest crosses the line into illegality. We consider an independent media essential to any robust democracy. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, discussed the UK's commitment to promoting media freedom, through the Media Freedom Coalition, with India's Minister of State for External Affairs in July.